Forever and a Day
by aksonchick
Summary: Relationships with the boss is always a tough thing. But what if your boss is the infamous Hunter J ?...
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I am completely new to this website and to the genre "fanfiction" itself, so this is a new interesting experience for me.

I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters, they belong to their respectful owners. Jack is a fruit of my imagination, as well as some other episodic characters. Do not be too strict, this is my first story. Reviews are always welcome:)

* * *

The sound of high-heeled shoes was heard all over a corridor. It clearly echoed from metallic walls and tile flooring. People in grey uniforms, who were in the hallway, tried to get out of it as soon as possible; even from far they could notice their commander wasn't in good mood and might be soon finding someone to have her anger released on.

It was true that this morning Hunter J was really pissed off. The infamous pokemon poacher couldn't sleep normally, nightmares were chasing her that night. The woman hated dreams about her past, the time she'd prefer to forget. The nightmares had always been very close to reality, sometimes she couldn't distinguish was she dreaming or not. And they were always full of details, what made them even more disgusting. When the silver-haired woman woke up, she had a feeling of having the worst night ever - she was completely broken, tired and unwilling to do anything. However, J forced herself to think in a bright way: today she had work to do, and although she wasn't in a mood for doing it, she believed that it would help her shake off her shattered state.

Hunter J quickly got dressed, had a cup of coffee and before leaving her spacious aboard apartment had a look at a mirror, hanging above a table in her bedroom. J didn't like to look at herself, she had always thought that she wasn't attractive. To be more precise, not attractive at all. Long ago it brought her many worries, but after she'd become a successful pokemon hunter she stopped carrying about such things. She had money and could afford anything she wanted. What else could be desired? Work was the only thing that mattered in the young woman's life. Sometimes deep inside she regretted that she had never had such things as friends, family, home she wanted to return to, but she had always been strict to herself and waved off such thoughts. Over the years she worked on her personality and she was satisfied with the result of self-training - she became a ruthless, fearless pokemon poacher, who felt no stress, while doing something extraordinary or out of norms of moralities. No rules actually existed to her. Work was the thing J was good at, it brought her money and positive emotions. J tried to work as much as possible in order not to lose her shape and get a portion of adrenaline everyday. She loved the feeling when her heart was beating rapidly, while her mind and attention was focused only on her aim. It wasn't a new feeling for her, but it was good. She craved for it and it encouraged her to work more. Quite often though, the pokemon hunter started to feel too tired and empty. She had practically no free time she could dedicate to herself. That was starting to get on her nerves. J had been thinking over her overtense workdays and came up that she had been doing too many things by herself. Finding someone who could do a part of her work was definitely a good idea. However, J was very serious about choosing the right candidate. She had a clear picture what kind of person she wanted to be her right-hand man and so far none of those she had known suited her requirements and taste. J hardly trusted people and choosing someone she could rely on in her business was a hard task for the silver-haired woman.

The notorious hunter had known that today she would have a conversation with a very important and rich person, her new client. She had already exchanged a few messages about their deal with him and now she was going to have an online conversation. When J was younger, she felt very nervous while talking to her clients over a video translator, as she was afraid of making a mistake or presenting herself in a wrong way. She had always been worried that the client wouldn't be willing to do business with her if she did something wrong. Now such thoughts didn't even cross her mind. J had reputation that was working for herself. Now her clients were afraid that she wouldn't agree to have any sort of deals with them.

Hunter J entered the corridor that lead to the control room of the airship - the main and most important room of her aircraft, as she contacted clients from there, had her pilots sitting in it and lots of screens that showed different indications. While walking through the passage, Hunter J noticed some of her henchmen in a rush. J had a strong urge to stop one of them and spoil his mood. She rarely rejected her wishes.

The notorious pokemon poacher quickly approached one of her men. The poor guy got stiff and looked in horror at his boss.

"Why are you standing at the middle of hallway, you idiot?! Don't you have work to do? What if I come and check how you do your duty? Look into my eyes, not into the ground!" J yelled at him.

The young man slowly raised his eyes from the light blue shiny tile on the floor. His face turned pale and he started to stutter because of fear and anxiety. He couldn't bear the look of J's cold piercing eyes.

" I - I'm sor-ry sir... I have all my work done and now I'm having a b-bit of rest... All the machines and device you ordered to repair are now fixed up. I have n-no work more, sir..."

"You what?! Then why are you staying in the middle of the hallway? Get out of my way!" The huntress screamed at the top of her lungs.

The henchman said his quick "Yes, sir", formally bowed and disappeared in a great hurry.

J was even more irritated now. She perfectly knew that the guy hadn't done anything wrong. The only fact that he was in a good mood made her enraged. Sometimes the woman wanted to be nasty and couldn't control her anger and fury anymore, so she blew up and as a result innocent people suffered. Loudly swearing, J continued her way to the main room.

As she entered the control room, the happily chirping a few seconds ago henchmen put on serious faces and went back to their business. J defiled through the huge placing, took a seat on her working chair and made herself comfortable, by putting one leg on another one and resting her elbows on armrests.

"Begin the transmission," she ordered and her voice clearly echoed from the metallic walls.

The enormous flat screen lit up and an image of a person appeared. It was a man in his early thirties, with yellow wavy hair till shoulders, blue eyes and a pair of glasses in a golden frame. His young shiny from constant care skin on his face made it visible even from the first sight that he loved himself more than everything in this world. Not hard to guess, he spent a lot of money and time to keep himself in a "chic" condition. Something womanish was in his features. J darkly stared at the man, feeling disgust rising in her soul and not trying to hide it.

'Pokemon hunter J, it's a pleasure to see the living legend by my own eyes. To be honest I have always imagined you being a man." J skipped his comment and kept silent. "Well, closer to the deal, I want you to get a Solrock for my little princess's B-day."

"I do not care about the reasons. How much can you offer?" Hunter J coldly inquired

"I've sent you a bill and a document, including a complete description. I've increased the sum two times since our first message exchange," the man said and smiled in a very forthcoming manner. However, this didn't affect Hunter J's way of communication.

"Good. What time will I receive the payment?" the notorious pokemon poacher asked in apparently disdainful demeanour.

"When I get Solrock," the man shrugged and gave J a funny look, like this thing was too obvious to be questioned about.

"Deal. You'll have the pokemon by the end of the day"

"It's a pleasure to have business with you. Thank you!" The enormous screen went dark. Hunter J stood up and walked to a henchman who was responsible for searching their targets.

"Did you find anything matching?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Show me the coordinates"

J looked at the digital map of the region, that appeared on the touch pad panel. In a few seconds hundreds of numbers and diagrams popped up on the liquid-screen surface, showing the distance from their current location, the precise coordinates of their destination, meteorological conditions of the whole region, other air crafts moving and much more. Hunter J skimmed through the parameters and a satisfactory smirk appeared on her face. "Excellent. We'll be there in 2 hours. Go to the destination," she told in a calm, yet steady voice. The infamous pokemon hunter was about to leave the room, when she heard a voice of one of her grunts behind her back.

"Sir, are you going to look at the new henchmen we have found for you to hire? Aren't you going to be sure they will suit your requirements?"

J rolled her eyes and deeply sighed. She absolutely forgot that yesterday she had ordered to hire new workers. "Ok, bring them here. Oh, and one more thing. Don't forget to make sure that they already know who I am." J said authoritatively and chuckled to herself how fast her orders were carried out.

"Yes, sir"

While waiting for her new recruits to come, the pokemon hunter was standing in front of a big window near her pilots and looking at the clean morning sky. It was a simply breathtaking view - light white clouds were still and their edges shined saturated gold colour because of the rising sun. Nevertheless Hunter J wasn't paying much attention to the beauty of the scenery. Her sight was focused at one spot and she bluntly stared at it. She was deep all in her own thoughts. The sound of doors opening and upcoming footsteps made the pokemon hunter snap out of her trans. As her new employees entered the room, J slowly turned on her heels and approached to the group, that consisted of 8 young fit men.

"Just what the doctor ordered..." J thought. She was pleased to see that the whole bunch seemed a bit intimidated. Probably, the henchman that led the group to the room had successfully managed to inspire fear to them of their new boss. That way it would be easier for her to manipulate the rookies.

J walked slowly from one man to another, examining each new member with her blue piercing eyes. It was obvious that the recruits didn't feel comfortable with the presence of this woman. The atmosphere was very tense. J paid her attention to every single detail she saw - this could help her make assumption about each member. When her glare stopped at one of her new employees, the guy she was looking at passed a hand to her and said with a smile on his face"Hi there, my name is Jack".

The huntress stared at him angrily with her blue eyes. Jack was a tall handsome man in mid-twenties with short, black, a bit spiky hair and expressive dark brown eyes. He was wearing a plain brown T-shirt with some sort of white inscriptions on it, wide ripped on knees jeans and a black velvet waistcoat. All his outfit told that this guy decided to join her not because his life was too good. J had a strange feeling that this guy wasn't like all her other henchmen. Something different was about his eyes. They lit with kindness and intelligence and emitted invisible warmth. J's intuition was telling that she would have a lot of trouble with him, because he didn't look like the one who would blindly obey her orders. Elusive spirit of rebel was around this guy. The silver haired woman narrowed her eyes a bit, as trying to figure out something about the rookie. Anger was still boiling inside her, though.

Hunter J raised her left eyebrow and gave Jack a look that could kill. The poor guy felt a chill running down the spine and aura of danger coming from his commander. He had already understood that his attempt to make the atmosphere less tense had brilliantly failed.

"I don't care about your name," J hissed venomously. "All of you are only my henchmen, people who assist me to reach my goals ... I don't care about your names, personal life and other things, you're just tools that make me reach my aims in a more fast way. While being workers on this ship, my ship," J put an emphasis on last two words, "you're my property and I can do to you whatever I like."

It was really frightening to the group to hear that their lives belonged to this woman. A woman, who didn't seem to be acquainted with respect and mercy towards others and would do everything if she meant business. J continued her speech in a more calm, though sternly voice.

"As long you are my henchmen, you do only those things that I've ordered. You must obey me unquestioningly, no matter what you think about the orders and how crazy or wrong you find them. If you break any of the rules, my rules," J made a pause to make sure that everybody understood her correctly, "or won't do exactly as I require it to be done, you will pay the consequences..."

"And how strict the punishment may be?" It was Jack's voice again. The black-haired guy started to get on J's nerves, thought she had seen him only for a couple of minutes. She focused her cold, full of despise deathly glare on his warm brown eyes. Chill ran down Jack's spine once more, but this time much stronger.

"Depends on what you've done. Let's say, if I'm kind and you don't do anything disastrous, you will be just made to clean the whole airship. But if you've made a great mistake that will affect my work much, you can make yourself prepared to see your ancestors on heavens."

Her reply left a big impression on her new crew. They could make sure once more that their commander had no limits of actions at all.

"As you see, you must obey me for your own sake," J concluded. She liked the confused and scared expressions of faces of her new members. " Your training will start today and will last for 2 weeks. Then you will be completely ready for the work. You're very lucky, because today you're going to watch me and my crew working on capturing a Solrock. I'm showing too much kindness towards you, though you don't deserve it,"J lips twisted in a smirk. "I let you see the whole process of capturing with your own eyes. You should be extremely grateful to me for that. Now lead them to their rooms," she directed the henchman who brought the new members to this spacious hi-tech room.

While the leading person gave some instruction to the rookies before they leave, Hunter J, feeling that her mission was done for now, headed towards the exit and soon disappeared from the control room.

"Man, what a temper she has... Is she always so unceremonious, spiteful and coarse? I must admit, I've met a lot of different people, pleasant and not really nice, but I've never seen such a bitch!" Jack addressed emotionally the leading person as soon as his supervisor left the room. Everybody switched their attention to the black-haired rookie. Even the three pilots turned their heads towards the novice, forgetting about controlling the air craft for a few seconds. They and were blinking confusedly in great shock. "Something tells me this won't end up good," a pilot with a mane of green curly hair sighed, returning back to his work.

To Jack's big misfortune, his female commander heard the words referred to her, as they clearly echoed from the walls of the metallic hallway. Totally enraged, J immediately turned back and returned to the room. She was shaking with anger and could barely control herself . The pokemon huntress rapidly approached Jack and slapped him with all her force. The black-haired guy nearly fell because of the impact. It was a really hard kick, as the Jack's skin became red and burning in a second. The rookie howled in pain. His mistress's slap hurt like hell.

"How dare you to talk such things behind my back, you, pathetic excuse of man!" J yelled at the top of her lungs. "Why didn't you tell me your little comments right to my face?!" She stopped shouting for a few seconds to catch her breath. "Sneaky coward!"

It was terrifying to see her in such condition not only for the new members, but also for those who worked for her for quite a considerable amount of time.

"Sir, please calm down..." one of her old crew members began, but was cut off by his boss's yell, followed by a long list of cursing.

"Please do forgive me, mistress J," the man, who even turned madly red from the profanity he heard, bowed and left the control room in a rush. Hunter J, still fuming, waited until he left and then turned her attention back to Jack.

"You'll get the retribution you deserved! Especially for you I increase the time of training by 4 hours for all your group. And for you," she pointed her finger at Jack ,"you will be working after your workouts in the storage helping my men with moving boxes with metallic details. And you will be doing it at night, after your workouts, that, thanks to you, will last for 4 hours longer than they should," the huntress made an especially big accent on the last phrase. She was still screaming and shaking with fury. Always calm and restrained, she was unlikely to be seen in such rage.

"Understood?!" J still didn't lower her voice.

"Yes, ma'am," Jack muttered and... received another powerful slap on his face. It was now red as tomato and swollen as a pillow.

"Yes, SIR! Forget about calling me ma'am!" J's shriek pierced the control room.

"Why should I call you "sir", when you're a woman?" Jack still dared to ask questions.

"My orders and requirements are NOT discussable. Is THAT clear?!"

"Yes, sir..."

J gave him a deathly look and stormed out of the room. Everybody could finally catch their breath and relax a bit.

"Phew, that was pretty scary. My ears nearly exploded because of her yell," one of the pilots complained.

"Enough. Better do you job, if you don't want to find problems on your ass," reminded him another, a handsome man with spiky red hair and quaintly twisted industrial piercing in his right ear.

"Steve, stop standing there and staring at our new teammates. You still have nothing to do, so leave them to their rooms," a yawning pilot with a blonde pony tail said to a short muscular guy, standing near the opposite wall of the control room

"And try not to run into J on your way to rooms, or you'll have great fun. J has a rich imagination, you know, so I would say cleaning the ship would be the best option for you as a punishment. The most harmless, to be precise," made his comment the pilot with green hair.

"How nice of you, guys, to care that much about me," the man, called Steve, replied with a grin.

"Someone has to brighten your day, so I took this honorary role," responded his mate.

Steve gave his friends a smile and waved the novices his hand, showing them where to go. The way to them was quite long, Jack lost his count on how many stairs and hallways they passed. One corridor changed another, looking exactly the same as the previous one, and if not Steve, the rookies would get lost in this metallic and tile labyrinth. It was a wonder of Technic that was hard not to admire, but something pressing was in these steel cold walls and drab square ornament on the floor. The rooms for the crew members were located in the eastern wing of the airship and after a considerable amount of walking, the group was guided to an enormous spacious square with many branches-corridors running away from it. Each corridor looked absolutely the same - lifeless grey walls and bright halogen lamps, bringing light to dull blue doors to rooms, that didn't differ anything, except for numbers, hanging on each door.

"You have one hour to change your clothes to uniforms and have some rest. We're meeting in the control room in an hour. After watching commander J making a pokemon capture, your training will start." The leading person, named Steve, said giving away room keys to the new crew members.

Rooms seemed to be alike not only from outside, but from inside as well. Each room was tiny and had a narrow single bed, a small table with two shelves hanging above it, a small wardrobe in a corner and a sink next to it. A minimum required for a person.

"Good luck. Something tells me you will need it," Steve said, giving a meaningful look to his new coworkers.

The rookies entered their rooms in order to prepare for their first day of training.

* * *

At a stated time the group showed up at the main room of the airship. Nobody wanted to be late and get some sort of punishment from their commander at the very first day. When the new members entered the room, J was already sitting on her work chair. She was fully into reading process of some papers. The notorious hunter was back to her tranquil and emotionless state. Nobody could say now that an hour ago she was ready to kill half of her crew. J rose her light blue eyes from the documents, indifferently glanced at those who came in and continued to examine the papers. A few minutes passed in absolute silence.

"When will we reach our destination?" J asked, not lifting her eyes from the text.

"In 15 minutes, Sir," the red-head pilot respectfully replied.

"Good." The huntress seemed pleased with what she had heard.

A quarter of an hour run unnoticeable for everybody. When the time of landing had come, J put on her goggles, pressed some buttons on right side of them and looked at the map of area that had just shown up before her eyes on the screen of goggles.

"Land the ship here, there is no point in coming any closer to our target. It will be easier and faster to reach it by cars".

At her command, the massive airship started to land, producing incredible deafening noise. Henchmen and trainees received an order to get into vehicles and go to the coordinates pointed by Hunter J. The fact that J preferred flying on her Salamence rather than going by car with her crew was a pleasure and relief.

Jack had no idea why he was needed to be on the mission. He couldn't do any work to help his boss, and just standing and watching seemed pretty stupid and useless to him. He questioned himself why J had taken so many henchmen with her. She could handle with the target pokemon on her own, what for did she need all these men?

The young man massaged his temples. The day had just begun and had already caused him so much headache. And not only. Swollen face didn't bring him any joy as well. The black-haired guy changed his sitting position. These vehicles were definitely too small for such number of people. Jack sighed and looked out of a tiny window. It came up like a total surprise when he saw from it where the Solrock was found. He expected to see it living in its natural habitat or at least in an abandoned building like factory or something like that. His heart sunk when he saw a remote house in a picturesque countryside. It was a nice building with two floors, a big balcony and a blooming garden around it. It seemed like it was a family party in the garden, as there were many people of different ages gathering around the table. It was a family holiday for sure and everyone seemed so happy... This reminded Jack of his family, people who he had moment Jack regretted that he had joined J. He didn't want to look at the consequences of J's capture of Solrock. He knew what that capture would bring these people. Nothing, but misery and pain.

The driver received an order from his commander in his headphone and abruptly stopped the car. All the crew except for driver left the six-wheeled celebrating people seemed disturbed by appearance of a bunch of strangely dressed men in grey uniforms with unknown intentions. So did their pokemon - a little Poochena started to bark violently, Sunflora hid behind one person's back, bug and grass pokemon disappeared in thick bushes of garden plants.

"Who are you and what do you need from us?" a scared old man asked trembling with fear, though he tried not to show his emotions and seem intimidating.

That moment J on her Salamence arrived. The huge flying beast hang in the air 4 metres above the ground, slowly moving its powerful wings.

"We're here to capture your Solrock," its rider replied coldly. "Go out, Ariados, tie them up," with this words the silver-haired woman threw a pokeball and a spider creature appeared of it in a flash of bright light. It didn't hesitate to follow his master's order. In a second all the family members were tightly tied up, as well as Poochiena, that firstly resisted, but now was lying on the ground unable to move.

J chuckled to herself. That was going to be too easy. These people couldn't even fight her back. The pokemon poacher pressed a small button on her goggles and everything around turned into a contour picture with blue, green and bright yellow, orange and red shapes. The function of seeing objects in infrared light was a really useful one, as it registered it the amount of warmth each living creature emitted. By clicking a few more buttons, the device could tell its owner the exact species of pokemon, by identifying the length and intensity of heat waves, but this function was not needed in current situation. It didn't take much time to figure out where the Solrock hid, as its silhouette brightly flashed, revealing its hiding place. J aimed her cannon device at a bush with giant yellow blossoms and shot.

Jack was watching pokemon hunter's face that moment. Ignoring desperate shouts and begs, J unemotionally pulled the trigger and aimed directly at her target. Her face was impenetrable, none of muscles of her face twitched. She appeared to have no compassion. It seemed that the hunter had successfully hit the target, because in a second a rueful scream of the pokemon was heard.

"Mission accomplished. Transport the target," Hunter J said coldly into a microphone on her headset. A glass capsule appeared around the sun pokemon that was now imprisoned into a solid rock of gold and started to move through the air towards the car.

"No! It is my Solrock and it is my B-day! Give it back!" A little girl with golden locks of hair screamed in a trembling and pleading voice. Tears were running down her little pretty face. She tried to get out of Ariados's net that was around her, but none of her efforts were successful.

"It WAS your pokemon. It no longer belongs to you," J stated indifferently. With hearing these words the little girl's cry started to grow into hysteria.

"Sir, the object is in the car"

"Retreat," J commanded into a small microphone. The group of henchmen that were watching this scene started to move hastily towards the vehicle. "Have a nice Birthday, girl," the infamous pokemon hunter threw off over her shoulder.

"Noooo! Stop!" The scream of girl's family filled the air as Hunter J slowly disappeared from the sight on her dragon pokemon.

* * *

The vehicle was moving towards the point of appointment with J's client. During the trip Jack had a possibility to look at every detail of the frozen pokemon through the glass capsula. The way Hunter J captured pokemon was very cruel and completely out of norms. How could she be that callous?! It was painful to see Solrock turned into the golden stone. The poor creature was stiff with a terrified expression in its eyes. For a guy who loved pokemon more than anyone did this sight was just unbearable.

Jack admitted once again that he'd made a huge mistake by joining J's team. He was very sorry for the little girl and wished he had been able to help her. That moment Jack felt something dark rising in his soul. It was hatred. And it was towards J. Her last phrase, calm face, indifferent glare and the child's high-pitched cry ran across his mind during the way to the meeting point. He wondered how J could be so heartless and merciless. Couldn't she find another pokemon to steal or capture it in its natural habitat? Why did she need to spoil the family party? Not a single soul in the world deserved what J had made them to go through. The young guy felt dizzy when he realized that instead this miserable girl could be his sister and all his family could be suffering from the infamous hunter. No one is insured from such things. What would he do in such case? Asking J to stop would be just a suicidal idea... Just stand and watch? And how would he be able to look into his parents's eyes after that? Lets start from how he would dare to look into them after joining J? These thoughts were torturing him, Jack started to be afraid of going crazy. His thinking process was interrupted when the car suddenly stopped and he bumped hard into metallic wall of the vehicle cabin. Some members exited the vehicle and took the capsule with Solrock with them.

"What's happening?" Jack asked.

"Perhaps a meeting with the client," the driver said lazily and checked the time on his watch.

The procedure of meeting ended up quite soon and the group returned to the airship. Jack felt sick of seen today things and felt that it was enough for him for this day. Half of his face was in a giant bruise and badly hurt. As well as his heart. Though, his "fun" was just getting started. A man came up to the new members and announced that their training would start in 15 minutes. Instead of normal amount of training hours of workouts they had to spend four more in the sport room. And all thanks to him, Jack. He noticed irritated gazes of his teammates. They weren't happy about extra hours of physical work at all. If things continue in this way, he's going to be beaten many times. Jack was angry with himself that he hadn't held a distance between him and his boss. It was very clever of her to use such methods - if one makes a mistake, everybody pays the consequences. Jack had a wrong impression of his boss, he should have thought she had been more intelligent and unpredictable. He seriously underestimated J. He should be more careful and respectful in order not to find more problems.

The workout was really hard. The demanding instructor made men and their pokemon do all known and unknown physical exercises. After 3 hours everyone was allowed to rest a little bit. Jack could never think that his body could ache that much. He didn't feel his arms and legs, it seemed like breathing required many physical efforts. After the short break the execution continued. The instructor showed no mercy and did his duty as severely as he could. During the training J came by to make sure that guys were giving out their maximum. She was pleased with the sight of red, sweaty and heavily breathing henchmen and left the gym with a satisfied smirk on her face. Although Jack had seen this expression on her face only two times, he didn't like it. Her grin was so evil. The black-haired man made a conclusion that J couldn't just sincerely smile. How can a person with no heart do it?

After the end of the workout, half - alive henchmen were allowed to take shower and have a rest. Jack enjoyed cold water running down his spine and refreshing his tired muscles. The thought that finally his day was over pleased him so much... He could say he was absolutely happy, although deep inside he understood that this feeling was caused by incredible physical tiredness. All refreshed, the young man began his way towards his room, that now was desirable as never and seemed to be a royal one. Jack was surprised what deathly exhaustion can do to a human.

Destiny had played an evil trick with him once more - while opening the door, he heard footsteps in the end of hallway. A man dressed in a dirty grey work suit with oily spots on it slowly approached the rookie. The man was probably a mechanic. The worker stared at Jack for a few seconds.

"Well, you fit J's description. She wanted you to help us carrying boxes with metallic details. Come"

Jack's heart fell. J didn't forget about the punishment for him. Jack figured out another feature of hers - she didn't say empty threats. The raven - head man sighed and walked past the man obediently. The rookie didn't want to find another problems on his ass, so preferred to keep silent.

The storage room where he had to work due to his punishment was full of noise and people voices. Jack was glad that at least the atmosphere in this room was quite friendly and there was no sight of his boss. Jack started to carry boxes and sort mechanic details. He actually enjoyed working with details and constructing something, so he didn't regard what he was doing now as a punishment. Time flew quickly for Jack, who waved off his tiredness and focused only on the details. He imagined what can be created from all these metallic pieces, perhaps something magnificent if it got in the right hands. Jack was so in this process, so didn't notice a tap of one of the workers on his shoulder.

"Hey, take some rest, I've not seen anyone so tired and awfully looking like you," the man's voice was full of was weird to hear someone talking in such a warm way on this airship.

"Hah, thanks for the suggestion, but I don't want to get another punishment from J from not doing my work," Jack replied, tiredly blinking and touching his forehead to removed accumulated drops of sweat.

"You're free from this work, we'll do everything for you. It was actually only our job and we didn't expect anyone to help us," said another mechanic.

"And what about J? What if she comes to check?" Jack asked worriedly.

"That's unlikely to happen, she is not on the airship now. When she is back, it will be a deep night. She will be tired and perhaps not in a suitable condition to rate the work you've done." Some henchmen let out chuckles.

"Well, thanks for your care guys, you're the best!" Jack said with a smile on his face and got up from his knees. His body ached like hell.

"You're welcome. We understand how you feel. Everybody who works for J does."

"I've already figured that out. Thanks goodness she is not aboard now," Jack looked at the clock. It was 11 in the evening. He didn't notice how fast the time went by. Finally the day he thought would never end was almost over.

"Do you know what J left for?" Jack was curious what things can be settled at this late time

"To reduce stress from her work and have fun. She often goes out. Henchmen, who sometimes escort her, say that she has a passion for strong drinks. I'm not surprised, though. Hey, it's better for you to have some sleep right now. You will have tense weeks of workouts and after a lot of work to do. "

"Yes, sure. Guys... why did you join J?" Jack wanted to hear other persons' motives of entering the world of crime.

"It's obvious, the reason is the same as yours. Who haven't dreamt about money?" Jack received an answer from one of the workers, who was putting on a shelf a big box, full of metallic pipes.

Jack nodded in agreement. He didn't hear anything new. The young man was falling from tiredness and his head was pounding. Slowly, he started to make his way to the exit door.

"Thanks for all, have a good night," he muttered as he left the storage room.

The trip to his room seemed eternal. When Jack finally got to his room, he fell on bed without putting off clothes. All his body hurt as well as his head. He wanted to think over he things that happened to him today, but felt himself falling into darkness.

* * *

J came back closer to morning, as everybody had expected. She was glad that most of her crew was asleep. The last thing in the world she wanted to do now was seeing her henchmen. J was awfully tired of them from the beginning of the day, so went out on her late trip alone. Finally, J reached a door to her own room. It was a difficult thing for her to find a key in her pocket, as her coordination was bad and vision became blurry because of alcohol. She wondered how she was still able to think more or less rationally. After many unsuccessful efforts she finally managed to get into her spacious apartment. Staggering, she made her way to her soft double bed and fell on it on her back, without changing into night clothes. The pokemon poacher loved to sleep like a queen, with a lot of space.

All attempts to sleep were fruitless, since her brain was too energized because of too many shots taken before and refused to pass out. J turned on her left side in great irritation and looked at the clock. It was early in the morning and a delicate pink light from the coming dawn started to fill the sky. The pokemon hunter closed her eyes and tried to recall all the events that had happened during the previous day, hoping it would help her to relax.

"Pfff, what a stupid day was today...Nothing good happened. Except for the thing I got paid. The only plus. Hah, it was such a ridiculous and pathetic situation with the girl. Steeling a B-day present from one girl and giving it on another girl's birthday. And the only difference is that one girl's father has money and the other one doesn't .Poor kid, she will remember this misfortune all her life. Well, that's her destiny," J yawned and turned on her right side, trying to make herself comfortable. "I missed every opportunity to establish contact with the black-haired guy... It was just an outburst because of... yes, because of my nasty temper. He was actually right when called me a bitch...And what for have I added 4 hours of additional workouts? Not smart at all. They won't bring the rookies any good, except for tiredness... I should make this guy somehow closer to me. Although he gets on my nerves by asking too many questions, he seems to have rational mind and not bad communication skills. He can potentially do a part of my job in future. Too early too decide, but still... I have interest in it. Maybe I can use him. Finally, I'll have more time to spend on myself. Only on myself. But what can be done when the relationships are completely screwed up?... "

The woman felt getting into the embrace of sleep. The coming day promised to be tense for every person on the airship, no matter for the commander or a for a crew member.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yes, I am alive:) Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, final exams is a serious thing, that requires a lot of strength, time and efforts. This week I already passed two, two more to go next week:)**

**A huge thanks to everyone, who's been supporting me and letting me know that my story is interesting for them to read. A special thanks to DeltoraQuestFan and hunter G,who left reviews and to DeltoraQuestFan and BellatrixBlack12, who added my story to their favorite list. You guys are te best:)**

**Sit back and enjoy the new chapter and please let me know what you think of it. I just love reviews (who doesn't?) :) **

* * *

In a vast room with all sort of sport equipment and mirror walls action had finally stopped. The heavily breathing rookies were allowed to have a small break before the second part of their training. Jack felt that there was no alive place on his body. He was panting heavily and sweat was running down his red tired face. He slowly hobbled through the enormous gym and flopped on a long wooden bench, leaning to the wall. He felt the life-giving energy starting to run through his veins as he took a few sips of cold water and poured the rest liquid from the bottle onto his head. Ruffling his black wet hair locks, Jack looked around to see what was happening around him. The whole group of trainees scattered around the gym. The small plump trainer hastily left the gym as well, hurrying to have a smoking break. Jack had no idea whether J knew about it, but even if she didn't, she wouldn't probably approve such actions. Some other henchmen took part in the training among with rookies as well. It wasn't necessary for them, but it was desirable, in order to stay in good shape.

"So, how do you like in there?" A man in his late twenties asked Jack, whose gaze was fixed at one spot in front of him. Jack snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at the next sitting man in a bright orange sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of black trousers. A huge black tattoo dragon stretched on his arm from his shoulder till the tips of his fingers. A strong smell of sweat was coming from the man, as he was ruffling his wet hair.

"Well, how to say...it's quite a specific place you definitely need to get used to" Jack began, not sure what to say and rubbed his forehead.

"I heard that you have already made friends with our commander" the man chuckled pointed his head at Jack's swollen face.

"Oh yes, and truth to say she is far from being angel." Jack replied, pressing himself to smile, although yesterday memories still sent a chill down his spine.

"Hm, I can't but agree with you. But you know, you'll get used to J's harsh manners. You'd better be careful with her, she can and will make you pay dearly. Needless to say how insane and sociopathic she is. You see that guy, standing over there?" Jack looked at the direction where his companion was showing and saw a young muscular man. "His name is Rick to my mind, but this doesn't matter. Can you believe that strong handsome man was pleading J on his knees to spare him? Can you imagine this man crying and screaming his lungs out? This callous woman completely broke him and destroyed him as a person. He nearly lost his mind because of the humiliation and tortures she made him go through. We have never asked what she had done to him, he suffered enough and there's no point in bringing back all the dreadful memories. It's only a guess of mine, but I think in addition to everything, she tested some kind of psychotropic medicine on him, some kind of narcotic substance that caused him lose sleep for months because of unbearable headaches and constant nightmares. Even now if you watch him for a while, sometimes you'll notice tears sparkling in his eyes when he sees J approaching. She loves mocking at him and periodically threatens to repeat everything. She enjoys as his sobs start to grow into hysteria and he starts begging her. J keeps him not because he is a valuable worker, but to remind us that she is the one who can do whatever she wants and to make him pay for his mistake forever. He has changed a lot since that time. Five years ago he was another person. Not the pathetic man he is now."

"What had he done?" Jack asked in a calm voice, although a flame of emotions was burning inside of him. His companion looked at him and evilly grinned.

"Not a pleasant story. Nor for him, nor for J. It all happened 5 years ago. J was only starting her career in pokemon poaching. Although she had no money and no sophisticated equipment, she was very determined and did her best to gain new clients and do work for them. I was among her 5 henchmen, that stayed with her from the very beginning. Although we were all living in an old shabby hangar in a suburb, we all believed in the bright future. I knew that J would make it, it was just a question of time. She had a great potential. That night she left to meet her new employer. We were waiting for her, but she never came. There wasn't anyone to control us and we allowed ourselves to have a drink and play cards during the workday. J had always hated slacking off and not doing the job properly, but who cares when she isn't present? She returned closer to midnight, with a huge stain of blood on her right shoulder. She was extremely upset. Not only had the client broken the deal, he invited the police to their rendezvous point. Probably, as she was trying to escape a bullet hit her, but J was lucky to get away with just a minor injury. She came back with nothing - no contract, no money. When she entered, she started shouting at us in a mix of rage and despair. She was like "Why do I have to do all this alone? Am I the only one who does something to make us not die from hunger?" Then everything went too quickly and too unpredictably. I can't say that this guy...emmm, Rick?... was totally drunk, but he took too much that day. For none knows what reasons he got enraged, jumped off his seat and hit J with all his force. She screamed as she was sent flying all across the room. Her face was stained with blood and she was moaning from pain, as she hit the ground hard. Loudly cursing, Rick ran towards the young girl and roughly kicked her a few times in her stomach. He screamed that it was all her fault that he was living on the edge of poverty, that she worked only for herself, putting all the received money into her own pocket and throwing her henchmen what was left - the mites, that were not enough for a decent living. J screamed and resisted and no one knows what would happen, but we managed to hold him and tie him down. That was a horrible experience I would prefer to forget, seeing our coworker, who had always been a kind and responsive man, a friend of ours, turning into a beast, losing his mind and letting his bestial savage emotions get over him. When he sobered, he understood the horrible thing he had done and wanted to do and got scared of himself, of the monster that lived inside him. He was tearing hair on his head from shame and guilt. His remorse was sincere, he truly regretted everything. He apologised, begged for forgiveness, pleaded on his knees, but there was no way back to him. Nevertheless, I don't blame J, in her shoes I would make everything to turn his life into hell as well. The only difference I would choke him to death before beating him till the edge of consciousness, but she has always been more creative and perverse. He had it coming and deserved what he got. I'm only telling you all this so you didn't make such stupid mistakes." The man paused for a while, taking a few sips of water, before continuing his narration.

"At first I regretted joining J, but now I would give anything to work for her as long as I can. You know, she is cut out to be a commander, she has analytical and calculative mind. She actually IS ill-tempered and, to be honest, the older she gets, the worse her temper becomes, but she tolerates those who are loyal and don't get much on her nerves. I like that she has genuine interest for her work, and does everything to get what she wants. It's an addiction of hers. I wonder if she won't go insane without adrenaline. J earns more money than most men can earn, isn't that outstanding? I always believed that one day I will finally stop counting every cent in my pocket and live as a king. So joining J back then proved to be a wise choice. She provides us with salary that no other employer could .I don't know what you think, but I would jump from the roof of skyscraper if J ordered for the money she offers. It's worth it. Plus,she isn't usually against if we ask her for a day-out, on condition that work has been done. The money I receive, it's just what I've been dreaming for all my life."

"Have you decided how to spend them?" Jack gingerly asked, although he couldn't care less about it. Communicating with criminals was definitely a new experience for him and so far not the most pleasant one.

"Not yet, and who cares! As long as you have money, you can get everything you want. So far I'm collecting the sum, maybe later I will decide how to invest them. J is actually very successful, but you know, it's a huge risk and responsibility. She is playing with fire - one wrong step, and she will lose everything. Regardless her being a professional in the art called theft, she will still made a mistake one day and get arrested, and without the leader the whole syndicate will fall apart. That's when I can use the circumstances, leave, get away from the police and have the life I've always desired. Maybe even decide to marry a girl and have kids." The man thoughtfully massaged his temples. "Too bad, if she learns about my past, better to look for a girl from а criminal world so she could understand" The man laughed at his joke.

"Why wait for so long?"

"Do you really believe that someone like J will let her workers to leave the ship alive? Letting go someone alive? What for? So he could tell everything the police and they could get her head? You CAN be redundant, but believe me, you either leave the ship as a retarded person or as a corpse. Maybe J will let you decide which option is more preferable. Man, where did you live if you don't even understand such obvious things? You act as if you were born today. How can you be so naive and blind? The only thing I can't get is what you have forgotten in this place where everyone is a criminal? " The man grumbled and shot Jack a glare full of irritation.

"You don't know me and judge me only by what you see. Maybe my soul is blacker than all of your together. Wolf in sheep's clothing is the most dangerous and intriguing thing." Jack replied and pressed himself to smirk evilly. The man was slightly taken aback, but after laughed and tapped Jack a few times on his shoulder.

"Haha, you have big future. Only if you will be able to find common language with our commander. There is no other way you could get a higher place." The man winked and patted the black-haired guy on his back, what made Jack tense, but still press a forthcoming smile in return.

"Hard task, but who said it can't be done? I believe we'll work perfectly together". Jack replied, though deep in his soul hardly believing a single word he said. Unlike his companion, he was growing tired of the conversation. "Do you know if there are any girls on the airship? Except for our boss, of course." Jack suddenly had this question popped in his mind.

"Why are you so concerned? Are you afraid that you won't have a person to share your nights with?" The man replied with a grin on his face. That came unexpected. Jack's face longed as he was looking at the man in stupor. It wasn't the thing he meant.

"Hah, don't take it personal, I'm just kidding" The tattooed man said. "No, there are no females on the ship. Nobody knows why, it's not our business. As long as I am paid enough, I agree with all rules of our commander." The man madly grinned and turned his head to Jack. "But if it bothers you that much, I can reveal you a little secret. J has passion not only for her job, money, adrenaline and alcohol." The man's eyes glittered with mischief. "She has a passion for men too. Who knows, maybe you're in her taste and maybe one day she will invite you to meet her in her room, after work at a late time" Jack's eyes widened. "As I said, this is her organization, she is the boss and she can use you on whatever purpose she wants. "

"I see." Jack replied in a serious and understanding tone. He was still more than shocked, but hid all his thoughts deep inside. Only now he began to fully understand a part of what world he had become. A feeling that he was the only sane person on the airship was grasping him at accelerating speed.

The door of the gym suddenly opened and Hunter J entered the workout place with an arrogant and self-confident expression on her face. It was her usual expression and Jack thought that it was the only one that could be seen on her face. Her long dark gray trench coat fluttered behind her as she gracefully strode through the enormous room. Jack felt inner anger and disgust involuntary rising in his soul.

"Enough training for now" The infamous poacher harshly commanded and darkly stared at the group. She was not in mood again, but this time Jack could see it wasn't anger. It was a complete indifference.

"But Sir..." The instructor, who appeared out of nowhere, weakly muttered. Dissatisfaction and disappointment was seen on his plump face with thick black mustache.

"Do it!" The silver haired woman barked, without any explanations.

The group of henchmen surprisingly looked at their boss, not knowing whether to believe her words or not. It was a pleasant gift for them, perhaps the best they could have right now. Hunter J could see sparks of happiness in their eyes and grinned. "Since today you're going to have normal amount of workouts per day instead of what you had yesterday" She loudly announced. Dozen of voices filled the air with a scream of joy. Many of the rookies bowed. J smirked in satisfaction. The good cop and bad cop technique opened a new edge of manipulation for her. However, a certain man could not keep silent.

"I don't understand, first you nearly made us die from the amount of physical work and now you abruptly decrease the time of workouts. What's the point in it? I find it stupid and..." Jack couldn't end his thought as he was interfered by the notorious hunter.

"The last thing in the world I care is your opinion. So hold it back." She hissed through her teeth.

"Yes, sir" Jack answered in a scornful way, pronouncing the phrase in a mix of ridiculous and quite offensive tone. A second later he started to regret that he had let himself too much towards his boss, but couldn't do anything about it. Jack met the sharp glare of her ice-piercing eyes. To his big surprise he didn't see any irritation in Hunter J's eyes. And it was the worst, because he didn't know what she was up to.

"All I require from you is discipline and obedience. Nothing more, nothing less. Do you know why? Because I think and make decisions for all of you. Your only task is to follow my orders. Is this so hard to comprehend? Most people are easily taught, but it seems that this is not about you. The more difficult, the better, right? So, maybe you can suggest me how to make you understand? Should I scream at you? Should I spend my priceless time explaining you every rule? Should I give you so much work so that the only thing you would dream about is sleep? What should I do to make this simple thing stuck into your head?... Two weeks of working in the storage room after workouts for you personally." J coldly finished her speech, crossing arms on her chest. Jack stood with his arms behind his back, his head hung and gaze fixed on the floor. Although his all posture showed how submissive he was, J could only guess how much strength it required for him to stay like that. She didn't believe his humility for a second, but decided to let it slide, since at least he didn't do anything disrespectful this time. Still, his fake resigned look started to get on her nerves. He acted and pretended, but it was nothing more than a play. The feeling that she couldn't do anything to change this inner attitude made J sick. Of course, one dose of a certain injection could change the situation, as well as threatening to take out his family members one by one, but these were things J didn't feel like using in this case. Maybe she would find another approach to him, that is not based on fear, but so far she was clueless. The silver-haired woman frowned and gritted her teeth in irritation. And she imagined that person being her apprentice. What was she thinking about?! He annoyed her only by his presence and she wanted him to become her right-hand man. How could she make such a mistake? With rage boiling inside her, J swore to herself that she would not miss the chance to make him regret that their paths crossed.

Hunter J was about to leave the training room as she'd done all she wanted, but all of a sudden she abruptly stopped. The silver-haired woman saw an involuntary smile on Jack's face and smirked. It was good that most of people couldn't control their emotions that perfectly as she could. Although J allowed herself to blow up suddenly and show her anger and fury, she was extremely secretive about the emotions that concerned her inner world. She dedicated a lot of strength to leave them untouched and hidden from the surrounding world. The very second J understood that she had chosen a wrong punishment. She gracefully turned on her high heels and came closer to Jack. Jack saw her lips twisting in a smirk and playful evil flashes forming in her eyes.

"You know, I've changed my mind. The sense of punishment is to do work you don't want to do, am I right? Punishment mustn't bring satisfaction. Or it will stop being punishment, you see? So... forget about working at the storage room and be prepared to say hello to mopping floors. I'm sure you will be able to have time of your life and improve your technique in this area. Learning new skills is a very useful thing." She purred, getting closer to the handsome black-haired man and looking into his eyes. Anger was boiling inside Jack. His dark chocolate eyes met with her grayish blue ones. Apart from deathly coldness he could see a hint of satisfaction. Her lips curled into a smirk. J was definitely mocking at him.

"Well, it seems that I've hit the target. Enjoy yourself for 14 days of your evening work. Don't worry, I'll come to check how you're doing" J insanely smiled and strode out of the gym.

All the new recruits were extremely happy and didn't hesitate to leave the room as well. Jack stood stiff for several moments after everyone have left. He felt like he got more than enough communication for today and only getting some privacy could make him feel alive again. On his way to his as small as a cage room pictures of J were running again and again in his mind. He couldn't say how much the woman irritated him. He hated everything about her: her freezing cold emotionless eyes, proud queen-like walking, the air of self-confidence and superiority, her manner of speaking. Jack couldn't forget the smirk she gave him at the end of their conversation and this made him even more mad. However, he was dissatisfied with himself too. He had always been sure that he was able to hold back his emotions. These two days proved that he was wrong. He had always thought that he would never humiliate himself to get money. Now he could see he was mistaken. He had always been proud of himself that he had never felt hatred and he was sure would never feel it. This withered too. All his world of beliefs shattered into millions of pieces. The reality shattered along with his confidence of what kind of person he was. So who was he? Maybe he was not better than the hunter he was working for?... A thought of no return to his previous life tortured him too. He blamed himself for his ego and for leaving his family. These thoughts caused him even more bother than physical pain. He had always thought of himself like of a decent and right guy and it was hard to admit that he made so many mistakes in such a short period of time. All his life went upside down and he felt confused and lonely as never.

A mop and a bucket of water was waiting for him. It was obvious that J didn't like him at all, so made him do the dirtiest job that could only be found. He sighed. Though it was hard to find something good in such kind of work, Jack assured himself that this would let him know the plan of the airship better and not to get lost on numerous hallways. He grabbed for this thought and didn't release it.

* * *

Two weeks passed by quickly. The amount of training didn't seem so unbearable anymore, perhaps his body got used to it. J had hired a good instructor and it was for the better that he was severe - due to him all the workouts were done in the most productive way. Jack felt himself as strong as never. He enjoyed his current shape a lot, it made him feel much better. He also made a pleasant discovery that driving yourself till the edge of exhaustion caused some sort of happiness and satisfaction. Jack questioned himself, if this feeling was alike to the one J was pursuing to get, when loading herself with so much work. Working with floors was now finished; and as he supposed, it helped him to orientate perfectly on the ship. Thanks goodness, J wasn't coming often to check his work. But she made sure those times she did, were simply remarkable. Jack had never been so humiliated before.

"I see you're too busy to salute your commander." J snarled at him as she was passing by. Jack turned his eyes away from the bucket with dirty water and looked at the woman in а dark grey trench coat.

"Good morning, boss" He dryly stated, his facial expression revealing disgust. J didn't say anything, only gave him a look that could kill and slowly continued her way down the hallway. All of a sudden, Jack heard something made of metal fall on the floor.

"Oops, clumsy me" J said with a devious smile on her smug face. The dirty water quickly covered the tile flooring, leaving ugly spots of dirt floating on the surface. Jack clenched his teeth and growled. Hunter J gloatingly laughed.

"How does it feel for a man to do this kind of work, huh? Perhaps, it lowers your self-esteem and kills pride. So, how do you feel? Angry? Worthless? Unappreciated? Humiliated?"

Jack didn't respond her and stared at her with hatred stiff in his dark brown eyes. J let out a few snickers

"I love that look. Makes me feel that I do my job the way I should. Remember, I warned you? It's not my problem you didn't draw any conclusion for yourself. By the way, you should be grateful during all your pathetic lifetime to me for my endless kindness, that I haven't made you go through things that are much worse than this. I have a wide arsenal of them" J's eyes sparked insanely and a sinister grin spread across her face. Jack found himself involuntary trembling inside. J sneered at him, enjoying his tortured look. Finally tired of making fun of her employee, the heartless woman gracefully strode the pools and disappeared from the sight. The only things left as a remembering was fading clicking sound of high-heeled boots.

Jack wrinkled his face at the memories, that left a strong feeling of disgust within his soul. The vehicle bumped and Jack accidentally hit his head. Today was the first day of his mission. He had very mixed feelings about the future work - on one side he was eager to try himself and his pokemon, but, on the other hand, he still realized that he and his commander would cause a lot of misery.

The vehicle stopped and the group of men in grey uniforms scattered all around the place, that appeared to be a fair of different handmade things. Jack wandered around the numerous wooden stalls, blindly looking at the goods. It was a warm sunny summer day and the wind gently played with his short black hair. The mixture of smell of bakery and fresh air captivated. Laughter of children and sounds of funfairs echoed in his ears. Jack turned around the corner and heavily leaned to the back of a wooden stand with a straw roof. He had been feeling uneasy for quite a time, and now it seemed like his state reached its peak. The communicator beeped in his ear, but Jack didn't pay much attention as his female commander's voice ordered to move to certain coordinates. The voice faded, but Jack didn't make a single step.

He looked at the crowd with a lost gaze. Many people of different ages were moving in different directions, one slower, the other faster. They all united in a huge flow, vibrant and constantly moving. If only he could dissolve in this flow. The small device beeped once more, but Jack didn't hear the orders. It was now or never. It was time to disappear - in such crowd J wouldn't find him. Maybe she wouldn't even be searching for him as he didn't possess any valuable information. He had even nothing to say about her to the police. If he runs, he can have another life. But how long how he could be running from himself and starting everything over and over from the beginning?

"Young man, don't be so shy, come and see them closer" Jack suddenly snapped out of his state and looked in the direction of the speaker. It was an old lady in a crimson knitted cardigan, who was energetically waving at him. Jack looked at her in confusion, but then realised that he had probably been staring at her stall all the time without noticing it. He pressed himself to smile and unwillingly came closer to the place where the old lady wearing huge glasses was sitting. She seemed to be very excited that the first potential client reached her table where a lot of pieces of jewellery were lying. Jack indifferently glanced over the accessories and turned to leave.

"That's a shame you're leaving so fast. At least you could pay some respect to the old sick woman who spent all her free-time making these things. And maybe that woman could even make you a great discount" The white-haired woman teased Jack, who rolled his eyes and came again to the table. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt if he spended a few minutes looking the at the gemstones. The lady seemed to be impressed by her talent of persuasion as she eagerly jumped off her seat and started to describe every detail of each jewellery. Still distracted and suppressed, Jack looked closer at what was lying on the table. There were black as a mole stones, that resembled black oil, sparkling on the sun with all colours of the rainbow, but they looked too unnatural. Massive deep red crystal earrings in golden frame were too pompous for him to like them. Aquamarine blue earrings with silver hooks appeared too plain. All accessories were beautiful, but something oppressing was in their empty and cold beauty. Suddenly Jack noticed a long asymmetric pendant. It was made of a whitish transparent stone, with shining sparks of violet, dark blue and gray playing in it. The small piece of jewellery was attached to a silver chain. Jack was captivated by its delicate beauty. He never thought that such things could draw his attention, but this one was an outstanding stone. For a second Jack felt that he saw snowy peaks of mountains of this home city, and smelled the fresh mountain air. Something was in this pendant that attracted him. The old woman, noticing his thoughtful examining look, stopped talking and excitedly clapped her hands.

"You surely got the taste. This one is made with extreme love and attention. I think it's the best composition I could ever create. It could be a very special gift for someone really special. It is said to be one of the rarest stone in the world, just forgot how it is called...Ame.. no, another letter... Carbun...no, not this... Aqua..." Jack sweatdropped, as the odd old woman started to talk nonsense. Noticing the surprised and quite worried expression on the young man's face, the old lady scratched her head in confusion and deeply sighed. "When I was young, I remembered everything, every name, every event, every date. Even the name of my husband... Oh, he was such an idiot... He spoiled my whole life! I dedicated my best years to him and he... he... damn, I can't remember what he had done...but I know that he was an idiot..."The lady frowned and pinched her nose, making the enormous glasses nearly fall. A cough brought her back to reality and she continued. "But never mind, the stone brings luck to its owner and helps to sort out things. It's a kind of an amulette." Colourless eyes examined Jack's face with great attention, eager to see the reaction of the black haired man. A voice in his head said that it if he bought it, the purchase could be nominated in the contest of the most useless things bought in the year, but Jack suppressed his mind.

"I'll take it" the black-haired man dryly stated, not quite understanding his behaviour and pulled out $100 out of an inner pocket of his dark gray jacket.

"Wise choice my boy, and the discount as I promised. 50$ in total" The lady beamed with happiness. Jack shot her a questioning look. "I won't take more than $50. And not because it's of a poor quality, it's a small gift for you. I know that lost look, it's all about seeking your place in life, understanding who you really are, trying to find the right path. It's a difficult period, but believe me, one day you'll finally understand what you want. However maybe you will be a drivelling bag of old bones sitting in a wheelchair, but it's not a big deal, it will still be the most memorable day of your life. If your brain will still be able to maintain its functions by that time,of course. But for now, regard it a small gift from an old insane lady" The old woman smiled, revealing a few missing teeth. There was something touching in this half-mad woman, and Jack couldn't help, but give her a warm smile.

The communicator beeped in the Jack's brain again. This time it was time to get ready to act. Jack quickly threw the old lady $200 and was about to leave, when he heard a voice behind his back.

"Why?" The woman asked in a state of deep shock.

"I don't like to owe to anyone. And another $100 is for your kindness and great communication skills" Jack replied and winked at the lady, who was now shining from happiness. "Take care of yourself and have a good day" Jack respectfully bowed, putting the pendant into his pocket and hurrying through the crowd.

* * *

"Golbat, supersonic, now!" Jack commanded and pressed a glowing white button on a pokeball. A big dark blue bat-like creature appeared in the air and shot a beam of sound rays at the crowd of people, who covered their ears and hastily ran down in the opposite direction from the attack. Panic took over this pieceful a few moments ago place as scattered all across the place hunter J's henchmen released the dark flying creatures. Like predators, they followed their preys, chasing them down to one destination - a vast plaza of the fair. They had one goal - to bring the people together at the square surrounded by wooden houses and stalls from all sides. This was all the work required from them, another and the most important part Hunter J was going to do by herself. Jack had already noticed that she preferred to rely only on her own, and gave her crew tasks that even if were to be screwed up still couldn't affect the whole situation much. Screams of panic, pain and fear bursted into the air. Hunter J's henchmen proceeded after the scared people, making sure they won't turn back.

Suddenly, Jack felt it. It was the smell of something burning. Glancing in front of him, Jack as well as his coworkers and visitors of the fair stiffed from fear. The whole square was set on fire. Vigorous flames of fire licked the numerous wooden houses and stalls with straw roofs, wrapping them up in a thick veil of black smog. The temperature seemed to have increased by several degrees and heat was enveloping the people more and more. Feeling short for oxygen, Jack involuntary rushed backwards. Other people hastily followed him, trying to rescue themselves.

"Mission accomplished. Transport the target now. Withdraw at once" Jack heard the well-known female voice through the headset. It seemed that J got all she needed and it was high time they got away. A piercing sound of police cars, firefighters and ambulances was reaching the place at an accelerating speed. They had to hurry if they didn't want to get arrested. Jack retreated his golbat and dissolved in the crowd.

J was standing atop of her Salamence and watching in satisfaction as a glass capsule appeared around the shiny Absol. It just went too easy, nobody was even trying to fight her back. The attacks scared people that much that they seemed to lose understanding of what was going on and could do nothing, but panic. J only smirked. She had always loved setting things on fire, it was one of her favorite maneuvers. She had never cared about possible victims and damage sirens of police cars, ambulances and firefighters grew louder and more clear, warning that they were approaching. J madly grinned, not trying to escape. May they know who was their enemy. May they know that they let her escape under their noses once again. The crowd was rapidly seeping out the plaza, but J didn't give a damn about it. She had her work done and now everything that got her full attention was the money she would receive for the capture. The capsula with the pokemon disappeared from the sight and J received a report in her headset that the target was on its way to her airship. Police officers and firefighters entered the flaming plaza, where was nobody left, but the trainer of a just stolen pokemon. He was sitting on his knees in a cloud of thick curling fumes and helplessly sobbing. The police screamed something to J, but she wasn't in mood for their speeches. She tapped her dragon pokemon on its back and prepared to escape.

The people were too scared to stop her and fight. Behind her back, Hunter J could hear curses addressed to her, police officers calling out their pokemon to stop her. She didn't give a damn to all of this, she knew they wouldn't be able to do any harm. She was too far away from the attacks to reach her. Numerous attacks were sent at her, but she didn't even turn to look what was happening behind her back. She knew she was invincible.

"Seviper, poison sting, now!" A scream full of despair and pain pierced the air. It was the voice of the Absol's trainer. Finally, he gathered his strength and did something to get back his pokemon. J only smirked at his foolish pathetic attempt.

Suddenly J felt a strong cutting pain in her left arm above elbow. The infamous poacher screamed and quickly looked at it. Unbelievable, but Seviper's poison sting hit her and was now stuck in her arm. J grabbed the sting and winced from pain. It was very inconvenient to ride on a pokemon and to remove something from arm at the same time. With a strong abrupt movement J tried to pull it out, but the poisonous stick broke into two pieces - one was left in J's gloved hand and the other one was still in her body. The hunter frowned.

"This can end pretty bad. Thanks goodness, that we've almost reached the ship. Salamence, let's go faster" J ordered in a calm and steady voice. A low roar followed her words as a sign of agreement. She sighed. Salamence was the only one who understood her and J had a bad premonition that he would always be the only one.

In a few minutes they were aboard. The huge machine took off, became transparent and disappeared in the morning sky. J withdrew her loyal flying type and stood deep in thoughts for a while, examining the place where she had been injured. With no doubt she had to get to the doctor's room, but on the other hand if she got there she would be stuck with doctors for several hours and would miss the online conversation and the appointment with her client. That was not an option. The client didn't have to suffer because something went wrong. It was her problem, that shouldn't affect the whole deal. Nothing bad would happen if she visited a doctor after the conversation, five minutes wouldn't affect the situation much. With that settled, J turned on her high-heels and headed to the control room.

While walking, J realised that she was tired. Extremely tired, even exhausted. Every movement caused a lot of efforts. This seemed weird as she had just started her day. J felt as she began suffocating and stopped to gasp for air. It was all getting ridiculous - she, the woman who was in a perfect shape and could deal with hard physical work was choking from a two minute walk in a slow pace. J desperately tried to get rid of the feeling and continued her way only to discover that her legs became numb and she could barely walk. Hunter J nearly fell to the ground, but due to her fast reaction managed to grab on the wall of a hallway. Nervousness was rapidly taking over her. Was it because of the poison? It couldn't be, as far as she remembered the first symptoms of such sort of intoxication appeared only after half an hour from injury, and she spent less than five minutes with the stick in her arm. J slowly trailed to the main room, making each step with a struggle. The burning sensation from her arm spread over the whole her body. Every cell of her body started to suffer from a great deal of pain. J felt as if she got a high temperature - with no visible reasons she felt very cold, her bones began to hurt, hands started to tremble. Her mind was overclouded by pain and refused to work properly. The only thought that was running in her head over and over again was to contact the client, assure him that the target is aboard and set the time and place for their appointment. After that she could probably go see the doctors and see if they could do anything to neutralize the toxins. Clenching her fists and gritting her teeth, J entered the control room and nearly fell once again, as her vision became unfocused and she started to feel dizzy. Grabbing onto the wall, she turned her head in the direction where her pilots were sitting and saw nothing, but a white image with blurry figures of people. One figure approached her and gently touched her shoulder. J turned her head and saw blurry features of the scared to death man that was looking at her. J got terrified by the expression she saw on his face. She could only guess in what condition she was. Strength was leaving her. Trembling from pain and dizziness, J felt her eyes closing.

"Sir, are you ok? Sir, sir..."

J felt her head hitting the floor. Her head was pounding, vision became blurry and everything went black.

* * *

When J gained consciousness, her body still ached like hell. She had never thought that pain can be so great and intense. The room she was lying in was full of voices. She slowly opened her light blue eyes and her unfixed gaze registered a blurry image of a totally white background with bright yellowish glowing spots on it. J momentarily shut her eyes, blinded by the lamp light. A strong smell of ethanol and other chemical substances rushed into her lungs, causing a burning sensation in her chest. She desperately tried to catch her breath, but only a wheezing sound came out of her mouth. She was suffocating. J felt sinking into the world of complete darkness. There were no sounds, no objects, but a total blackness and shattering pain. Suddenly she felt a light fresh wind and she gasped for air. The complete darkness faded and changed into a blurry picture of a person in a white robe, that was attaching something to her face, covering nose and mouth. The oxygen mask brought her back to reality, but didn't kill the pain. J clenched her fists, trying to grab the bedsheet and quietly moaned. She was trembling from the overwhelming pain, lying on a narrow and hard bed in her airship hospital, surrounded by her doctors.

The woman blamed herself for always being tough and emotionless. More than everything in the world she wanted to cry and shout, but there would be no excuse for her if she allowed any of these emotions in front of her crew. Or even her doctors. She didn't want anyone to see her weak. Never. J bite her lip till blood, desperately wanting to have this all over.

She couldn't hear clearly what were medics talking about and those were the things she didn't care about now. She felt an injection. It hurt badly, as the poison did something to her pain threshold. J couldn't understand what the doctors were going to do next, but that didn't bother her much. She wanted to have this over at any cost. She would allow them to do everything to her only to make the pain fade. She received another injection, feeling every inch of the way the needle was making while penetrating deeper into her body. With all her strength she tried not to cry. She thought that death would be a mercy, but this wasn't going to happen, of course. Why life has to be merciful to a person who showed no mercy and compassion to so many people and their pokemon?...

Suddenly, all voices faded away. The only sound J could hear was her heart beat. It was so loud that it seemed like heart was pounding in her ears. It lasted for a few seconds and then the hunter lost her consciousness.

* * *

Jack rolled his eyes as he was overhearing again the whole story of J's injury. Some people just seemed to be unable to calm down and not because they cared about Hunter J, but because a burning interest on the details of the accident and J's condition was driving them insane. The news of J being injured spread over the airship with a speed of a thunder. Everyone was discussing the event, describing it for thousands of times, each time providing the narration with new self-invented details.

Jack slowly drank his coffee, enjoying every sip and not taking today event into his head. Unlike the others, he couldn't care less about all the hustle and bustle. The pilots told how J looked like when they found her and that only ignited the interest of the crew. Many tried to guess basing on their description whether J had chances to survive or not.

Jack took another sip and darkly glared at the group. He had a premonition that nothing too serious happened to their boss and she would be the last to die of all present in the room. Jack couldn't say that he felt sorry for her. He didn't wish her death, as he wasn't the person to wish such things to anyone, but he felt that J deserved what she got. How long could she shamelessly do such things and got away with them? Finally justice triumphed and it was time to pay for her actions. Maybe that could teach her something. Jack hopelessly sighed. He knew far too well that nothing would change about his commander.

A group of people in white robes entered the canteen. All sounds faded away in a matter of seconds. A great number of henchmen jumped off their seats and came closer to the doctors in order not to miss a single word they say. Jack was the only one who didn't change his relaxed posture and kept on sitting in the back of the canteen. Steve happily jumped off his seat as well and hurried to the group of henchmen, suggesting to bet on whether J was alive or not. Jack rolled his eyes, as the whole group accepted bets and prepared their money.

"Hunter J is in a stable condition now, nothing threatens her life. The wild reaction of her organism can be explained by a severe allergic reaction to one of the components of Seviper's poison. She had a minor surgery and the stick was successfully removed from her arm. She was given special medicine that would neutralize all the toxins and allergy. Now all she needs is good rest and she probably will stay in bed for 3 or 4 days till her full recovery" One of the doctors reported. A round of applause filled the room. Some of the henchmen growled in frustration, giving the money they had just lost to their coworkers. Steve beamed with happiness, clenching the just received money in his hand. The doctor solemnly waited for the applause and other sounds to fade to continue his speech.

"I haven't finished yet. As we have mentioned, Hunter J's health condition is stabled, and nothing is threatening her life. That's why we have decided that it will be better for our beloved boss to stay in her own room rather than in the airship hospital. She will be more comfortable and will be able to have a better rest that plays key importance for her now. We will give her the medicines at a fixed time and provide all medical help required. The thing is, she may still suffer from the poison, that is still partially left in her organism, and suffer from the side effects of the medicines. We do not know how strong the after effects may be, but one thing is for sure. We need one of you, guys, to stay with her during these days and take care of her." The doctor finished and looked at the crew.

Deathly silence filled the enormous room. The doctor rolled his eyes.

"Ok, another argument. Our working place is hospital and it would be wrong if we all gathered in J's room while some of you needed urgent help"

The last phrase made all the henchmen tense even more. There was no way the doctors would get rid of this idea.

"That's why we ask one of you to do it. We came to a conclusion that it will be better to choose someone from new henchmen, from those who joined J about 2 weeks ago. And it's preferable that it would be someone who irritates her really hard. She will be mad anyway when she sees someone taking care of her, so the person who will look after her will definitely say goodbuy to his job. And it's better to lose a job for one person who our beloved boss can't stand, because he will still lose his job sooner or later, it's a question of time, rather than to lose job for two workers - one, that J can't stand and another who will take care of her. Well, I think those who worked for J for more than two weeks should decide then. And that person will be you" The doctor grabbed a man in a dark grey uniform and dragged him to the centre of the circle. "The choice is yours, so decide." Another doctor added, hardly suppressing a smirk.

A sinister whisper ran across the crowd. Jack's heart sunk and a gulp of coffee got stuck in his throat. He had a strange feeling, that he was the most suitable candidate. His heart was beating rapidly,mentally he begged not to choose him. A muscular man in a dark grey grabbed his chin, stood still for a few seconds and bowed a few times, making understand that he had made the choice. Although his arms were hid under uniform clothing, Jack noticed a black tattoo going till his knuckles. The tattoo was long and resembled... a dragon. Jack felt coldness running down his spine and blood going to his face from the stress. Now it was evident who would be the lucky guy.

"There isn't much to think on. It's your time Jack, to show what you're worth. It's what I told you about not so long ago. No doubt you're number one in her list of "favorite" henchmen. Do you remember a punch in your face, extra workouts and mopping floors? I guess you do. I suppose this task is obviously made for you, but... you have two options. One - to lose your work and another - to come to terms with our commander and get a higher place." The man smirked and glared at Jack with dangerously sparkling eyes. "And I bet, this will be kind of a show! How about another dispute for money for today, huh?"

A number of henchmen shouted their bets, but Jack didn't hear it. He was sitting in a deep stupor and lifelessly glancing on the half-empty cup of dark coffee. Why him?! Why did the doctors choose that damn man? Why did that damn man pronounced his name?!

"Settled" The doctor smiled. "Hunter J's room is located on the 5 floor in the right corridor of the eastern wing. The door is not locked. Come as fast as you can, it's better not to leave her alone since she's still far from feeling herself well"

Jack nodded and silently strode through the canteen towards the exit, accompanied by enthusiastic screams of the electricized crowd. His walking was steady and proud, expression - restrained and serious. If only anyone knew how whimpering he was inside! All his way to the fifth floor Jack was inwardly cursing from indignation and overwhelming anger. The outburst of rage, addressed to his coworkers, to be more precise, the man with a dragon tattoo, changed to an outburst of rage towards J. Why was he paying for her mistakes as well? Why should he dedicate his time and strength to her? Why could she humiliate him and still expect to receive a supporting attitude from him?

"Damn that woman, damn her! So what that she is injured - she deserved it! For her cruelty, for her disrespectful attitude to any sort of life, for the pain she caused and continues to cause with no remorse... I will still be redundant, so I have nothing to lose... They gave me the task, but who said I must obey their orders? May she do everything on her own, if she's the smartest here, if she's the big boss! Thousands of people are feeling unwell, and I would gladly take care and help any of them with a great happiness, but not HER! Why is this all for me?!..." Jack desperately shouted in his mind. To his great shame, Jack had to admit to himself, that his fury was mixed with a tension, nervousness and... fear. He could do nothing with himself, only to plead that he would have enough patience, courage and restrain. Jack heavily huffed. May this be a little... no, a huge exam for him on the complicated subject of how to communicate with people who you have a both-sided cordial dislike with. This is something that you're taught at university!

Finally, the black-haired man reached the 5th floor and took a turning to the right hallway. He had never been in this part of the airship, but he could say, that it didn't differ much from the other hallways he had seen. An armored door made of dark wood of pleasant chocolate color announced, that the room hidden behind it belonged to someone of a much higher status than Jack, whose door to room was made of plywood and could easily be beaten out by a few minor kicks.

"This must be it" Jack darkly thought, glaring in front of him.

He wasn't eager to enter it. Jack stood in silence in front of the door, bringing all his bravery and patience together. He didn't know what will be waiting for him behind it and got prepared to all kinds of misfortune. The young man deeply sighed, knocked on the door and entered Hunter J's room.

* * *

**Wow, this chapter turned out over 9000 words. Kind of impressed of myself, haha:) The next chapter is already planned out, so it shouldn't take long to update the story.**

**Wish me luck on my exams:) Reviews are welcome and much appreciated:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm finally free from school after so many years of spending my precious young life there! Can't say how awesome it feels to stand on the doorstep to new life. Thanks for everyone who's been supporting me with my fanfiction story and wishing me luck on my exams - MiniMeani, BellatrixBlack12 and hunter G - I passed better than I expected:) **

**Hope you will enjoy this chapter. Please let me know what you think about it:) Comments are always very welcome:)**

* * *

Time was lingering and every second felt like eternity. Thousands of thoughts, memories and questions crossed the mind of a certain black-haired man, as his hand was clutching on the door handle and pushing it forward. Jack made a step and entered the room, nearly falling, as he accidentally stumbled over a dark wine colour carpet. Regardless of the irked state of mood he was in, the young man managed to suppress curses, that were about to escape from his mouth. He gritted his teeth in irritation and roughly pushed the edge of the carpet with his boot, so it could fall on the same place it was. Jack angrily huffed and walked in the room, slamming the door. That second he couldn't care less about anything that was going to happen, especially J's reaction. Why shouldn't he allow himself to do so, if he is that pissed off?

J was lying on her back in her spacious double bed, with her soft beige blanket on. Her short silver locks were scattered all around the pillow, some falling over tightly closed eyelids of the young woman. Jack came closer and heard her frequent and shallow breathing. He looked at the white pale face and covered with dry blood half-open lips and felt his heart shrinking. Although he was warned that his female commander was in poor condition and he understood that there was nothing threatening her life, the sight awakened pity and compassion. It was visible that she had to make a lot to the full recovery. Jack helplessly looked at a white bandage on her left arm on the place, she had been injured in. The piece of white cotton tissue contrasted with the black t-shirt the woman was wearing. The skin around the bandage was swollen and covered with ugly red spots, looking like allergy reaction. J had some sort of portable medical device attached to her arm. It reminded a small portable drop counter - a slightly yellow viscous liquid was slowly dropping into the needle that was placed in her vein. Jack could only guess at what pain the woman was, and wished that the pain faded away. All his hatred had involuntary gone the very second he saw her. She made him go through pain, but he couldn't and didn't want to wish the same for her. It was against his nature.

Jack glanced at his female commander one more time. She was sleeping, and hadn't been aware of his presence. Jack sighed in relief.

"At least no scandals this time," the black haired man thought and came to a huge window with thick glass that overlooked a field with blooming yellow flowers. It had always been exciting to look outside windows, as the ship had always been changing its destinations and always landed in different was no chance to see the same panorama twice. In the golden sunshine of setting sun, the canary flowers seemed to be more bright and sparkling. The whole field seemed to be in a constant move because of thousands of small bug pokemon, dancing around the flowers, picking up nectar and carrying it away. Jack sank in the memories of his past while looking on the field, and these were pleasant memories. He felt cosy and warm inside. The sight of peaceful nature removed his anxiety, anger and fear. Never before he felt that calm and relaxed. Long stripes of soft light were lying on the floor and on edge of J's bed. He turned his head to look again at the infamous hunter.

"Strange, I don' feel hatred towards her I've been feeling before. I feel...compassion. Yes, I feel sorry for this woman being injured. How weird... I thought I wouldn't be able to be with her in the same room, that strong I hated her. And now she seems so helpless and miserable... Man, how weird..." Jack thought in confusion and turned his attention from J to her room.

Hunter J's room was a really spacious one, probably, the most spacious in the whole airship. Creamy wallpapers, dark wood furniture and a bordeaux carpet on the floor made an impression of a cosy one, where it was very pleasant to relax and spend time. Jack liked the design and the atmosphere, and was slightly envious that he had never had such a room. Next to J's bed there was a small table, with a few cases and a night lamp, standing on its surface. On the opposite side there was a wardrobe, made of dark wood; a bigger table, with a mirror above it, and a small corridor that lead to bathroom and kitchen. Jack walked to the table, glanced in the mirror and looked through J's personal belongings. On her table he found her headset, a glass with some liquid left on its bottom, a comb and a yesterday newspaper. J seemed to be a person who didn't approve mess of any kind - nor in a room, nor in a head. Nothing grabbed Jack's attention much. More attractive seemed books and magazines on the shelf above the table. The black haired man moved closer and stared at the books in hesitation. Although he really wanted to know what was the hunter reading on her leisure, he felt like it's not good to interfere in such a private area.

A warm light of sunset reached half of J's face. The young woman quietly moaned and turned her head away a bit. She wasn't asleep now,but was still lying her eyes closed. J felt the warmness on her face and it made her feel good. The light brown background she saw still having her eyes closed gave her a feeling of comfort and safety. She loved sun, its presence always made her mood brighter. She slightly moved her fingers, ignoring the feeling of pins and needles, touched the surface she was lying on and smiled as understood that she was in her comfortable bed. Pain was still felt, but it wasn't so intense and unbearable anymore. Her life was getting better and the silver-haired woman was happy about it. J was lying and enjoying the sounds of silence and the state of being alone. As she thought. Sound of footsteps made her wince and return back to reality. Someone WAS in her room. She quickly opened her eyes and rushed into a sitting position, intending to open the case of the table next to her bed and pull out a gun. It wasn't definitely a good idea, as she her body wasn't recovered yet and didn't listen to her properly. The head appeared to be too heavy to lift from the pillow and her left arm was shot by overwhelming pain as she made an unexpected movement. Angrily swearing, J fell back on her pillow.

Jack, disturbed by the sounds, switched his attention to the huntress. The black-haired man came up to the bed, carefully put aside a piece of blanket and sat on the edge of her bed. J was still lying with her teeth gritted and eyes tightly closed. She was still suffering from the pain because of the attempt to abruptly sit up. When the pain partially faded, the infamous poacher made a deep sigh and opened her eyes to look at the person sitting on her bed. From the expression of her glare Jack could tell that nothing good was going to happen. The feeling of J's defenceless condition was totally ruined within the first seconds she opened her eyes.

"You shouldn't make such quick movements, or you can hurt yourself..." Jack gently began, but was cut off.

"You... What have you forgotten in my room?!" J hissed venomously and gave the black-haired man a look that could kill.

"I'm here to make sure that everything is ok with my mistress, and to help her if she needs any sort of help," Jack replied calmly and pressed himself to smile.

"I don't need such things. Leave my room and go back to work," the silver-hired woman angrily shot back, staring at Jack.

"No can do, mistress. Didn't you forget that the most important rule is to protect our commander and make sure she's ok?" he muttered. Deep inside he wanted to leave her room immediately, but the feeling of responsibility was holding him.

"Especially for those who are deaf or too stupid to understand: leave me alone right now," J was now talking more calm, but anger, boiling inside her, was clearly heard in her intonation.

"Sorry, can't obey. I've given a word to your doctors that I will stay with you till your full recovery. So, no matter if you like it or not, I'm not going anywhere. I do obey orders and I do my work perfectly, till the end," he concluded, with an air of importance.

J grumbled something under her breath and rolled her eyes. She wasn't excited about his presence at all. It was driving her mad. A deathly silence filled the room for several minutes. The young black-haired man was first who decided to break it.

"Do you feel better, mistress J?" Jack asked, trying to be as polite as possible, though it was very hard to be nice with a person, whose glare told to get lost.

"Yes," the woman dryly stated with a wry expression on her face. She wasn't definitely in a mood for talking, and was doing her best to make Jack understand it.

"I see. That's good news," Jack added with an insincere smile on his face. J skipped his comment and continued looking at him as a hungry seviper on a ratata or any other rodent pokemon. He felt quite uncomfortable under such a look. It was obvious that she was pressing on him in such a way to make him get out of her room. Jack quickly came up to a conclusion that if his commander was in good health she would kick him out very quickly by force. So he was grateful that this time he wouldn't suffer from a physical pain. Her facial expression was getting on his nerves, but still, the young man decided to act decently. At least in order to prove himself that he knows how to keep his tongue and communicate with people he can't stand.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" Jack tried to continue.

"Why should I spend my precious energy for conversations with someone like you?" Arrogance and coldness was heard in the young woman's voice.

"Of course you shouldn't. The thing is, I thought that you might feel a bit bored since you have nothing else to do, but lie and examine structure of ceiling. I just wanted you to spend your time, let's say, in a more entertaining way."

"How sweet of you," J commented in a scornful way, not impressed by his speech at all. She was mocking at him. Again.

Jack gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. How did she dare to be so ungrateful?! From the corner of his eyes he noticed a smirk on the huntress's face. She was definitely enjoying making fun of him.

"Ok then..." He noisily breathed out air of his lungs and massaged his temples. "Let me know when...IF you'll be willing to talk."

J defiantly turned her head away from him and closed her eyes. Jack silently exhaled ans gritted his teeth. "That's for the better" Jack thought to himself. "At least I won't feel that cold glare on me. Why the heck am I doing this job? Why me and not another henchman? Am I the only one who is capable of listening to her harsh comments?! Why is that for?!... Ok, stay calm, you do your duty and that's it. You'll be free after finishing your task, Jack, so come on, just a little more...Darn, what for did I need to suggest her to have a conversation?

All because I felt sorry for her, that miserable she looked when she wasn't awake. Haha, and you really believed she would be nice and defenseless. What were you thinking about that second, Jack?! Damn, I can't believe how stupid I can be sometimes...Well let's hope she decide to enjoy silence and won't involve me into any things connected with her."

J closed her eyes and tried to relax. Finally she wouldn't see his face. She could think about anything she wanted and nobody would disturb her. She could even sleep, if she wished to. However, it was easier said than done. J was used to living alone, and now the presence of someone else in her room sitting on the edge of her bed made her tense. She just couldn't relax while he was there. J noisily huffed and turned her head to another side. The coppery taste of blood in her mouth was getting on her nerves too. She needed to get rid of it as soon as possible. The taste made her feel sick. J opened one eye and searched for a glass of water, but it wasn't on the table near the bed. The only way to get a glass of water was to get up and go to the kitchen. J tried to lift her body from a pillow a bit, but helplessly flopped back with dizziness and piercing pain. Well, maybe she could go without water. Of course, the taste of blood wasn't the best, but it was bearable. With all strenght J tried to persuade herself, thinking over convincing arguments, but the taste was getting stronger, and with every minute she was getting even more sick of it. J deeply sighed. As much as she hated to think about it, she had to do it.

"Could you please bring me a glass of water?" J muttered, wrinkling her forehead and closing her eyes, as if admitting her little defeat.

Jack indifferently looked at her and got up from bed. In a few minutes he returned with a glass full of water.

"Thank you," J weakly muttered and tried to sit up, but it was a hard task for her. Her coordination was bad, head dizzy, all body trembled. J tried to sit up, but it always ended the same way - she flopped back because of the pain and dizziness.

"Ahem...I know that you cherish your independence and like to do things on your own and I shouldn't disturb you with my useless support. Besides, I do only things that I'm ordered or asked to do, and I didn't hear you saying anything about helping you and I finally DID draw a conclusion for myself and it's your problem, you should solve it on your own, as you always like to do... But this time, please let me help you," Jack gave the silver haired woman a warm smile. No matter was she going to like it or not, he just couldn't look at this anymore. Jack put one arm behind her back and gently pulled her, helping her to sit up. J, whose head immediately started to spin like crazy, heavily leaned to his shoulder. With another free hand, Jack took a glass of water and brought her to her face, but this seemed to be too much for J. With shaky hands she wrested the glass out of his hands and took a few sips from it, spilling half of the liquid on blanket. When she finished, Jack gently took the glass out of her hands helped her to lay. J didn't thank him and hastily closed her eyes, as if trying to forget the horrible experience.

Deep inside J wanted to scream and shout. She gritted her teeth in irritation. She couldn't say anything to him, she had nothing to reproach him for. He had been gentle and caring and he offered his help to her. And indeed, she needed it and they both knew it. Still, J was tortured by a feeling of awkwardness. How could it be, that she, the infamous hunter J that could bring to life the most difficult task, was so helpless that couldn't pick up a glass by herself? She had never asked anyone for help, so the feeling was new to her, and so far, she hated it. But more than anything in the world she was bothered by one question. Why? Why he genuinely wanted to help her? Why was he so kind, attentive and caring to her, who never showed any of the feelings towards him?

Jack looked at J in a state of compassion. Not only her pale face and shallow breathing was nourishing his feeling of pity. He could easily guess how she felt inside, so didn't get offended that she didn't thank him. His hatred again, was gone. He felt sorry for a woman, who apparently never saw anything good and true in her life. For a second he felt that he had never felt hatred towards her and like she had never tried to cause him pain. To his surprise he caught himself thinking that he could gladly help her and take care of her if she only let. J opened her eyes and with unfixed gaze looked at the black-haired man. Jack felt his heart sinking. J was looking like she was going to say something important to him, to confess something. It seemed like she finally wanted to talk to. Jack smiled and gave her an encouraging look.

"You can't stand me, right? C'mon, we both know it," J said with a smirk, teasing the black-haired man. Jack sweatdropped and hung his head in disbelief. This was the last thing in the world he expected.

"You're not too forthcoming either," Jack replied with a wry face, his fit of ruth instantly fading.

"So, you're admitting that you can't stand me?"

"I'm admitting that this is a two-sided feeling. But I think it's better than telling white lies and pretending to be friends."

"Can't but agree with you. So... if I bother you that much, why don't you leave me? There is plenty of work to do, why cling to this one?"

"I still want to live," Jack replied and gave the infamous poacher a gloomy look.

"Ahhh, I see the story about the poor guy, who's been driven to the edge of sanity, spreads faster than I think. Don't worry, I can tell you a little secret - I eliminate only those who possess valuable information and can harm me if they reveal anything to the police. Your name takes the honourable last place in this list," J said with a smirk.

"You think it's fun to hurt and insult people, right?" the black-haired man asked with some sort of sadness in his voice. J sniffed and let out a chuckle. Jack ignored her reaction and looked at her with eyes full of pity. "Have you ever thought that all your suffering is the price you pay for causing so much pain?"

"Yes, and I wouldn't change a thing about it. I do what I do, I am who I am and I'm not going to alter anything. And if my current messed up physical condition is the pay, well, let it be. It's ok for me to pay such a price."

"I'm sorry to hear that you really think that way."

"If you're trying to make me feel guilty forget about it. The whole situation is simply ridiculous. The only one who feels guilty is you. Exhibiting yourself as a decent law-abiding man, but at the same time committing crimes? You reason about consciousness, but your words don't match your actions. That's really a shame. And it could even get worse if your family and friends get to know what you are doing. You don't want to disappoint them, right? Oh, and if they learn, that would be such a disgrace for all your decent and righteous relatives, that they won't hesitate to send you to a nice place called jail. But of course, you are not looking forward to the trip and decide to stay with me. You have nothing to lose and all you can do is to get on my nerves and utter morals in order to awaken my consciousness. I have to warn you in advance, that I'm not a good listener and if you want to preach you should find another place and another public. But of course, as you said before, your conversation is meant to entertain me, so I guess I should praise you give you a cookie," J finished her speech with heavy sarcasm, which made Jack boil inside. "You have no right to judge me."

"I never tried," Jack replied, feeling cold inside because of menacing tone of the speaking woman.

"Good to hear. It's better not to push your luck. For your own sake," J warned him and deviously grinned. The silver haired woman felt her body becoming stiff and tried to change her posture, but accidentally put too much weight on her arm. A piercing cascade of pain ran through her body and J angrily grumbled.

"Damn it... damn everything..." J muttered under her breath in a state of deep irritation. However, not only her health state caused this dissatisfaction. Predicting the answer in advance, the silver-haired woman still decided to ask the question. "Have you contacted the client and set off the deal?"

'I have no idea, as you could notice I spent all the time there. But that shouldn't worry you much, you should relax all these days," Jack gingerly said, trying to avoid revealing any information he knew.

"Are you kidding? When I return nothing will be done! You hear me? Absolutely nothing!" J erupted in anger.

"Can you stop thinking about your precious work even for a millisecond?" Jack asked, annoyed by the reaction of his commander.

"The client mustn't suffer. He has to get everything done in time. This accident mustn't influence the whole process. Otherwise, it will be unprofessional from my side and can harm my reputation," J said in a firm and steady voice and Jack saw seriousness in her light blue eyes.

"If you care for your professionalism so much, you should have performed better at the mission and shouldn't have done so many useless things. I shouldn't point you, as you perfectly know by yourself that you overkilled with setting everything on fire. It wasn't necessary at all," Jack commented with a grave face, but J noticed sparkles dancing in his eyes. He was trying to mock at her.

"I don't do anything without a reason."

"Of course. The purpose of this action was to raise your self-esteem and to nourish vanity. And back to the subject of professionalism, if you were thinking more about the mission and not about how to show your perfection and power, you would notice that it was a very windy way. So there's no wonder, that when you were riding, the poisonous sting hit you. And what is more, the owner of the absol was a top coordinator and a champion of many contests, so there's no wonder his pokemon were more powerful than average."

"If you're that smart, why don't you become a boss instead of me?" J's lips twisted in a smirk.

"I think I'll intently miss this exceptional chance," Jack grinned, meeting the glance of ice piercing eyes.

"And this is all you could take out after three years of studying aeronautical engineering at university in Floaroma town. Interesting, what could five months of work in auto repair teach you? Oh, forgot to mention your work as a bartender for two weeks in a pub... and two months of wandering, trying to find a better life," J casually noticed, intently looking at the ampule with liquid attached to her arm.

"How do you know?" Jack's jaw nearly dropped from surprise.

"I have eyes and ears everywhere," J smugly replied. "And if you want to know, I know more about each of my workers than you could ever imagine. I know your name, surname, place of living, your parent's occupation, your friend's names, the date you went to school and ...even the cemetery where your grandfather is buried," J couldn't help, but smirk. "See, I could write a detailed biography of any of you"

"I don't believe a single word you said," Jack retorted with some sort of unexpected hatred and aggression. He could hear his heart pounding madly and threatening to jump out of chest."How can you know this?"

"I have my own sources. Are you so naive to think that I can't get access to governmental systems? I use them for many years to dig up the information I need under the nose of police without them even knowing about it. And so this didn't sound as empty words, I can give a fact about you. For example... you got kicked out of the university for not being able to pay for education."

"That's interference in private life," Jack scolded and shot the silver-haired woman an annoyed glare full of irritation.

"If you can't deal with my methods then quit. Or money are stronger than the desire to fight for justice, huh?" Jack saw J suppressing laughter.

"Do you ever get tired of mocking at people?" Jack asked in a mix of irritation and indignation, but at the same time he felt relieved inside. At least J's knowledge about true reasons was superficial and she wasn't aware of the whole story. Less than anything in the world Jack wanted her to poke her nose into his past.

"Do I really seem so bad, mmm?" J asked with mischief sparkling in her eyes.

"I base my opinion on the way you treat people and pokemon. If you would think for a second what cruel methods you use, the answer would definitely be yes."

"And what's wrong with treating pokemon?" the notorious poacher asked with a genuine interest.

"So you're uninterested to hear what's wrong with treating people," Jack, whose jaw nearly dropped at her surprised expression, taunted. J heavily closed her eyes.

"Don't you think you allow yourself too much?" the silver-haired woman hissed through her teeth.

"Now I guess I should apologize and beg your forgiveness," Jack replied, his voice dripping with heavy sarcasm.

"As if my forgiveness meant anything to you," J scornfully sniffed.

"Something's telling me that the moment of leaving your organization is very near," Jack gingerly noticed and glared at his female commander.

"What an insight," J commented with a smirk. "With each comment the grave you're digging for yourself is getting deeper and it's fun to observe this. But straight to the haven't finished, what's wrong with treating the pokemon?"

"And what's right? You have no respect for their lives and you ask me what's wrong! You just think that you can take it away from its home, its family, its friends and destroy its home place if needed. You just think you're the master and the one who would decide its fate, so you just do poaching without any remorse. And I'd better keep silent about the method you use for capturing poor creatures. You just fire that weapon, loaded with some sort of unknown energy, that turn alive beings into lifeless stones. You freeze them and transport to the client and if the client refuses to have business with you, your trofee can exist in such frozen indefinite state for months. And you still ask that dumb question why it is wrong," Jack discontentedly grumbled and glanced at J, who seemed not to be caring too much about his words.

"Believe me, I'm more humane than every poacher, who tries to push pokemon into different cages, rooms, pokeballs and use ropes, shackles and injections to keep them in one place. It can negatively affect the physical condition of the pokemon and therefore reduce its price on black market. My wrist cannon is a sophisticated piece of technology, that allows me to do everything in a more fast, painless and secure way. It helps me avoid the resistance of the pokemon, and everybody seems to be pretty happy."

"Speak for yourself," Jack barked at J, what only made her smile.

"So you think that it would be better to shove pokemon into cages?"

"I'm not trying to convince you, I'm just saying that I don't approve your methods."

"I couldn't care less about your opinion so you could not spend your efforts to utter it," J casually noticed and smirked.

Jack felt himself captivated in some sort of game. There were only two players, he and his female commander. J was obviously enjoying the game and seemed to be content, as she said the finishing phrase which the black-haired man couldn't retort. She was having fun, and to his surprise Jack realised that he was as well. Sharp remarks became a certain language, which was hiding the sense behind the words. Jack started to like having J as his opponent in their oral battle, as each phrase she said appeared to be a challenge. She was smart and provocative, and there was something about her that made blood freeze in veins in a good sense. It was looking like if she was testing him. But what for?

Jack looked back into the grayish blue light eyes and felt a shiver running down his spine. But this time it wasn't from fear. Jack got scared of the new emotion but decided to hold him in hands.

"You know, we both have something in common."

"Like what?" J asked, sounding uninterested, but Jack could have sworn deep inside the woman was dying from curiosity.

"We're both lonely and doing too many wrong things," Jack replied with a sad smile. Even if this was not a thing J expected to hear, she didn't show any sign of astonishment.

"Speak for yourself and don't generalize. The last part of the phrase was an add-on from me," J teased the young man, eyeing his dark chocolate eyes.

"Do you ever perceive seriously things, not connected with your beloved work?" Jack felt smile appearing on his face. J smiled back and closed her eyes, leaving this question without a reply. Jack massaged his temples and ruffled his pitch black short hair. His gaze got again chained to J's arm and he felt his hands becoming limp because of the dark blue bruise caused by a badly made injection into vein and bright red allergic spots scattered all across the arm. A white bandage placed higher than the place of bruise, on the spot where the poisonous sting hit her, was almost the same colour as J's skin. Jack felt a lump involuntary rising in his throat. However, J interfered his again awakening sense of compassion.

"The answer is no, the only things I perceive seriously are the things connected with work. That's why this time I ask seriously - did the client receive the absol?" J questioned with her eyes closed. Jack noticed her forehead wrinkling a bit . Although J was calm and restrained, Jack could say for sure she was trying hard to suppress her inner irritation and indignation.

"I have no idea," Jack said with the most innocent look and faked a smile, but J didn't see it. She was still resting with her eyes closed.

"You're lying," Jack heard a hardness of a steel in the woman's voice. "What happened with the pokemon?" J asked with annoyance, still not opening her eyes.

"Ok, sorry," Jack replied with a quite guilty look. "Um... well... the client cancelled the deal"

"He what?" J jumped off her bed, but instantly fell back because of the overwhelming pain.

"Please, just lie still. Now I understand why doctors didn't want to see you in the hospital. Nobody wants such pain in the neck."

"Have you finished with philosophizing? Maybe you'll finally tell me what happened?" J mumbled crossly.

"The police scared off the client and he refused to do business with us. We offered him to meet at other time and other day, but he didn't change his mind."

J closed her eyes and shook her head, as if trying to shake away the dizziness she was feeling, among with the fact of losing the client and with the feeling of not being able to do anything with it.

"Just don't take this personal and get rid of any thoughts of that kind. It was none of your fault - not yours, not anyone's of the crew members. The client is just a bastard and you can't change it. Everything was done properly from our side," Jack hurried to assure his female commander.

"I can only guess how these freaking idiots built a dialogue with him," J opened her light blue eyes and glanced at the young handsome man, sitting next to her. Jack could see that she was disappointed, but at least she wasn't overreacting.

"I didn't hear their conversation, but I think my teammates were presentable and everything went smoothly and decently. You know, you underestimate your workers, many of them are smarter than you think".

"Well, if an expert says, he knows," J's lips curled in a smirk and Jack had a strong urge to roll his eyes.

"Why am I not surprised by your answer?" Jack replied and smirked back. He just couldn't miss the chance to tease the silver-haired woman. "Then my question to the great guru of carrying out investigation on people's lives - how does it feel to receive, literally saying a knife in your back, from a trusty old client? How does it feel to know, that you haven't done enough research and underestimated him? I guess it's a bitter pill to swallow."

"Seems I'm not the only one who enjoys jeering at people," J smugly smirked.

"I'm not that kind of person who would attack first, I'm patient enough and can close my eyes on many things. You're smart enough to comprehend that my words are the reflection of your words."

J questioningly lifted her eyebrow.

"And don't tell me that you can't recall everything that you told me," Jack said, with some sort of offense and reproach in his voice.

"Shut up," J authoritatively cut their dialogue off and turned her head away.

J grinned and closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep. Why should she spent her precious energy for conversations with her henchman? Of course she did remember every word she said and now to her displeasure she could experience how this felt on her own skin. That man... he was driving her crazy. She hated that cold look full of despise he gave her, hated the way he replied, hated him for his straightforwardness and insolence, but at the same time she felt some sort of respect for showing off these traits. She just couldn't forgive him the way he attacked her in their verbal battle, the twinkle of malice in his dark chocolate colour eyes, as he was trying to insult her. He was biting her and deep inside she knew what it was for and admitted it was fair. Her head was about to explode because of her physical condition and now in addition to everything, because of him. J helplessly gritted her teeth and silently groaned. He was just too unbearable. However, the question that captivated her mind was how he could combine such traits as being kind and caring with feeling hatred and the desire to cause pain. Less than an hour ago he was genuinely forthcoming, attentive to her problem and not deaf to her pain. J noisily sighed. She had been hurting his feelings and treating him like rubbish under her feet, so now no wonder it would take time for his wounds to heal. It was pain that made him act that way and attack without waiting to be attacked. Maybe he was right, and they had more in common than she though?... J stretched in her bed and tried to sleep. She had to recover as soon as her much displease, she found out again that she couldn't sleep. She could barely lie with her eyes closed. And it was not because she was afraid that the next sitting man would hurt her or cause her any sort of misfortune. It was just inner tension, that captivated her all body and made every muscle go stiff and prepared for action. J understood that her behavior was irrational and illogical, but she couldn't do anything about it. She had been alone for too long and she had probably forgotten how it felt to be with other people. To talk to them, to be near them, to feel their presence. She had become wild and unwilling to communicate with the rest of the world, hiding her thoughts and emotions deep in herself. J nervously fidgeted, vainly trying to get rest.

"You're so tense, just relax. Listen to your breath, listen to your heartbeat and feel the serenity enveloping your soul,"Jack, noticing this uneasiness, caused by his presence, began, but was cut off by a sharp look from his boss. The black-haired man felt a chill running down his spine. "Relax. I know you don't like people, but I don't bite," Jack gave her a smile

"A few minutes ago you proved otherwise," J glared at him and her lips curled into a smirk.

"I don't bite without a reason. So if you at least try to pretend that you're on your best behavior, I guess I can be nice with you."

"You're not in the position to do me a favour... I would like to see you in my shoes, when you were in a room with a stranger," J helplessly scolded her fate in despair.

"But we still know each other a little bit, right?" Jack asked, trying to cheer her up. J didn't miss a chance to roll her eyes.

"Ok, you know everything about me, but to be aware of biographical facts doesn't mean to know a person. It's a deeper idea, to know his traits, habits, thoughts, something very personal. Bet I can tell something about you without doing any investigations?"

"Go ahead," J said, sounding intrigued.

"Let's begin with the fact that you're secretive. Very secretive. I'm speaking about the bullet-proof glass door with a 5-numbered digital code in the corridor, leading to your room. Your doctors gave me the numbers, so I could enter," Jack said, eagerly awaiting to hear J's reaction.

"It is rational to provide yourself with a certain level of security. Do you think it would be right if everyone had access to my room?" J lifted her eyebrow.

"According to what I heard, half of the crew knows the code and are often guests in this room at evenings. And I won't believe that you change the code every time one of your numerous lovers leave the room," Jack said and evilly smirked, hoping to make J feel embarrassed or at least see her denying this fact.

"Looks someone is really jealous and envious. It always hurts to watch those who are having the time of their life and realize that such small things of joy are absent in your life. But it's your problem, not mine. We deviated from our subject. What else can you say about me? " J indifferently asked, so far not impressed by Jack's deductions.

"Should I tell you that I have never seen such a bitch and won't probably see in my future life? Arrogant, egoistic, shameless and heartless bitch..." Jack thought, wrath boiling inside him. Howsoever he wanted to say these words aloud, he decided not to pay attention to her provocations. "All I'm trying to say is that you're secretive. I'm more than sure, the books on the shelf above the table contain blank pages or different information from what is written on the covers."

"Of course you didn't miss the chance to check it and delve in my personal belongings. Have you opened my wardrobe and checked what colour and size of underwear I wear?" J said with venom in her voice. "You're not the first and not the last person who is searching for something, no one knows what, in my room."

"Don't flatter yourself, the only person who is interested in what colour and size underwear you wear is you and only you. Other milliards of people perfectly enjoy their lives without possessing such valuable information. And if you want to hear, I didn't open anything and it's only a guess of mine. I just thought that if I were you, I wouldn't keep any important valuable things in such easily accessible place. And the assortiment of what you were reading, was kinda... strange. I will never believe that there's a place for history books, love stories and language dictionaries in your life."

"What's wrong with the subjects of the books? Maybe I like to read on my leasure?" J casually asked.

"Maybe, I'm not trying to deny it. I'm just saying a more likely variant. But the manual of how to use an oven throws on certain thoughts. Can't remember seeing that device in your kitchen," the black-haired man teased, giving the woman a challenging glance.

"Threw it away two months ago. It is none of your business where's that damn oven," J grumbled in dissatisfaction. "Do you have anything else to say?"

"I can bet you have at least two guns in your apartment" Jack smirked, glancing over the whole room, as if trying to predict the place of the weapons.

"Three," J smirked and Jack saw pride and self-satisfaction glittering in her grayish blue eyes. The young black-haired man rolled his eyes and massaged his temples. J was getting too paranoid at times.

"You're one of few people who can be proud of their perfect memory. It seems that you like the language of numbers. They are everywhere - the codes on the door, the number passwords to computer systems... even your henchmen have their numbers" Jack looked at the patch that was sewed to the shoulder of his dark gray uniform. Number 87. And I'm only 87. Not a person, not a part of a team, just a number. With no name, no past and no future, with no destiny. Kind of sad," Jack thought aloud. "But I do understand, that this makes it easier for you. Name is still very personal, and a number is a soulless symbol. You have no bond with people-numbers, and if you lose them, you couldn't care less about it, as you lost one of a hundred, a faceless worker. What should happen to a person so that he started to regard other people this way?" Jack asked with sadness in his dark brown eyes.

J only smirked. "I understand that you still can't come in terms with a thought that I won't cry because of you, or because of any other henchman, but face it, that's life. I can't let anything to interfere into my life and distract me from my work."

"Have you officially proclaimed your work as your spouse?" Jack couldn't skip his tart comment.

"Only if your Majesty will give his permission to me," J retorted in the same sharp tone.

"Speaking seriously, you're a workaholic. Your work is your obsession, you can't live without it. Years ago you worked for the money, now you work only to work. To see a kaleidoscope of events rushing beneath your eyes and to experience the intoxicating feeling of adrenaline every day. Every new mission is a challenge, that you gladly accept. It's like you try to prove something to yourself, that you can do this, that won't fail even this time, that you're always perfect. You drive yourself till the edge of your abilities, but at the same time till endless exhaustion. And you know it by yourself. You would like to slower the pace, but you can't, that way you'll lose everything you've been working for this hard. You would probably like someone, call it a right hand, an apprentice, whatever, who could do a part of your job. But the thing is, you can't find the right man, as you're not trusting anyone. And with women it seems that you have hard relationships," Jack concluded.

"A woman aboard is a bad sign. The only exception is if she is the commander," J replied, avoiding giving a direct answer.

"You can't find a common language with girls, right? Why is this so? Is this because you got betrayed by your best female friend or because you don't like to share men's attention with other candidates, hmmm?" Jack teased the silver-haired woman. J rolled her eyes.

"If you haven't still figured it out, I can have any man I wish by a snap of my fingers. But, at one point you're right. I don't like to share with anyone and I'm speaking not only about men. I want the thing, whatever it can be, to belong fully to me or don't be mine at all. I don't approve middle. Everything, or nothing, that's my credo."

"Isn't it hard to live with such life position?" Jack asked, meeting the gaze of his commander.

"So far I wasn't disappointed with it," the infamous poacher calmly replied. "Have you finished? If so, I'm not impressed at all. You could do better. You imagine yourself to be the greatest detective of all time, but I must disappoint you, that almost all of your deductions were wrong. You know me to the extent I let you know me."

"Of course, and I'm not going to convince you. Everyone has his own truth. But "almost all" gives me an encouraging hope that I wasn't that bad," J saw sparks dancing in dark brown eyes of the next sitting man and hardly suppressed a desire to hit him.

"You're going too far and getting on my nerves too much. You'd better shut up or you'll get a bullet straight to your head. My gun is always next to me," Jack heard the menacing voice of his commander, but didn't give a damn about it.

"Have some pity at least to your classy bordeaux carpet. I think you wouldn't like to see it stained with blood and brains," Jack joked, giving the hunter a funny look.

"I could live with it," J gloomily replied, understanding that feeling of anger was releasing her.

"Ok, ok. But please relax, just these three days. Then I let you kill myself at any time and any place as well as any way you like. But now, just rest," Jack gave J a warm smile, that made her heart skip a bit. Her face was impenetrable, but if only anyone knew what storm of emotions was inside her. The infamous poacher felt her feverish mind wildly racing, her hands becoming sweaty and shaky. J hated to admit, but she was... confused, by how this man told all these things to her. How on Earth did he figure it out? Although Jack didn't say anything out of order, J felt as she appeared naked in front of him. He was like a spy in her life, who didn't take part, but watched from side and gathered all the facts together. He was intelligent and managed not only to collect information, but to draw right conclusions. He was smart and observant and had a sharp mind. If only she could get him. Get his full trust. He could be the perfect apprentice, the one she had been searching for so long. He's not like other idiots she helds. He is suitable for other sort of work. No, she won't fire him, she will promote him. His personal traits could make him a perfect supervisor. At last she found someone who could understand other people and foresee their behavior. Someone... like herself.

Jack looked at the young woman who was staring somewhere in front of her with an unfixed gaze, as trying to recall something. Trying to make her snap out of this state, Jack decided to ask her a few more questions.

"How's your wound?" Jack asked, trying to change the subject.

"On the same place as it should be," the silver-haired woman replied negligently.

"What?!...I'm serious, J."

"I'm mistress J for you," Hunter J replied and gave him the smirk he had seen so many times today. The man noisily breathed out and ruffled his hair. His commander tended to be too unbearable sometimes.

"Ok, then I'll rephrase my question...Does your wound hurt?"

"Yes," J replied calmly. Her look was now telling to drop any further interrogation and Jack only now noticed the tired expression of her eyes.

"And...?"

"Nobody died from pain yet. I don't want to get a addiction from painkillers, it affects the performance of the whole organism in a negative way."

"Of course it's better to torture yourself and to prove everyone around what tought person you are," Jack said with sarcasm.

"Do you offer me to start complaining aloud and crying over my fate?" J asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Please save me from this and keep this exciting show for someone else. I'm just trying to say that there's no need to be that tough and... spiky and scare by such behavior everyone away. Showing weakness makes you alive in other's eyes and show that you're the same as other people, that you have the same feelings. When you share your pain with somebody else, it hurts less and you recover faster. It becomes your mutual pain, that you split into half. While comforting each other, people become kinder and more caring and can find a common language with a person they thought they could never be friends with. Sometimes it happens to discover, that a person who you don't know at all is dearer and closer than a member of your family. Have no idea if it's good or not, but family ties don't always mean the same as spiritual connection and mutual understanding," Jack replied and fixed his eyes in anguish on the classy wine colour carpet. Suddenly he felt as lonely and meaningless as never. J didn't bother him and just kept silent. He had no idea why she did so, but he was grateful to her. She gave him time to gain control over his emotions. When he was back to normal restrained state, he peeked at his mistress. J was thoughtfully examining dancing lines of light on the ceiling. Soft glowing pink rays of evening setting sunshine played on the walls and the ceiling, whirling into quaint shapes. Such thing could only be seen for a few seconds,as with each moment the light faded and the evening was getting closer and closer.

"Has it ever occurred that you found someone who would understand you better than your family?" J asked all of a sudden and questioningly looked at the young black-haired man, sitting next to her.

"This is very personal... but I will answer it. So far no, but after what I've done I don't know whether my family will ever forgive me. Maybe I have burnt all the bridges and there's no way back for me to their world. Some things can never be brought back. It's like a door that opens only in one direction. I don't know if there's a handle on that door, that could let me out of the criminal world I entered," Jack nearly whispered. J noticed shattering pain, enveloping the dark beautiful eyes and their owner. A chill ran down her spine and she felt a heaviness pressing somewhere on the left side of her chest. For a second the silver-haired woman got scared of despair and sorrow that radiated these eyes.

"They're your family and will always be there for you. They will always be waiting for you and they will just be happy to see you alive. I'm more than sure they will forgive and understand you," J uttered nearly in a whisper.

"May your words be true. Sometimes it's hard for me to cope without my family members. Not physically, but mentally. It's hard to fight the loneliness with nobody by your side... Do you miss your family?" Jack sluggishly asked. Only now he noticed how exhausted he was after all today events.

"When you don't have it, you can't miss it," J replied, changing her attention back to him from curls of light on the ceiling.

"Sorry to hear that. I didn't mean to make you pain," Jack replied, feeling himself a bit guilty of asking such a question. A heavy pause, as if someone had died and alive had no clue of what to say, filled the air. Jack felt that he had gone too far in his questions and touched something J didn't want to be disturbed. "She must have been through many things in her life. It's not surprising then that she's so tough and emotionless." He quickly looked at his boss, who was staring indifferently at the ceiling.. "Poor thing. Nobody ever carried about her. So how can she be warm and caring?..."

"Hey, when's your Birthday?" Jack asked all of a sudden, coming up with an idea how to shake off the heavy feeling of melancholy.

"What?!" J exclaimed in genuine surprise. It was the last question she expected. Jack smiled at her startled reaction.

"When is your Birthday?" he gently repeated, still smiling at her.

"What's the difference?" J asked him with irritation, giving the black-haired man a cold look. She wasn't feeling quite comfortable, answering such intimate questions.

"Just want to know, if you don't mind, of course"

The huntress deeply sighed and precisely eyed the next sitting man. What for did he need to know the date? Should she tell him?

"December 8, if that can tell you something," J muttered in a slight confusion, not sure if she had made a right decision.

"It definitely can, thanks," Jack forthcomingly smiled, showing his perfect white teeth. J didn't answer his charming smile and kept staring at him, her feverish mind still trying to find a rational explanation to his actions.

The pause was broken when one of the doctors entered the room. In his mid-forties, tall and plump, dressed in a white robe, he brought with him the specific smell of hospital. Jack hated the smell of medicine, so winced his nose and involuntary turned away from the physician.

"So, how're you doing? Jackie, what a pleasant surprise to see you still alive," the doctor joked, which caused Jack to let out a nervous chuckle and J to roll her eyes. "Sorry for my words, miss J, next time I'll be more attentive with what I'm saying. How do you feel?" the doctor put all jokes aside and his serious demeanour returned to him.

"Much better, thanks"

"May I examine your wound and see how it heals?"

J silently nodded and didn't show any sign of protest. The medic untied the white bandage on the woman's arm and thoroughly examined the place of injury. He pulled one of the bottles out of his bag and cleaned the area around the cut. The injury was obviously sore and caused its owner pain,as J tightly closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"Now it will hurt a little. This shot will make you get well faster, reduce pain and neutralize the left poison. Moreover, it will also calm you nerves and help you fall asleep faster. You look very tired, you need to have a good sleep," the doctor stated, changing the ampule with medicine in the drop counter to one with a dense bright orange liquid. "Seems like you have a strong allergic reaction. But nothing too serious, you'll just have to get more intense treatment. Two more days in bed with these medicines and care of this nice guy will make you like new."

"Could you save me from his presence and better inject a double dose of medicine?" J asked with a wry face, what made the doctor burst into laughter.

"No, this guy is in the prescription for your treatment as well as the medicine. So whether you like it or not, you'll have to accept both injections and him being there."

"Have to say that injections are a much more pleasant thing," J replied, wrinkling her forehead and dreading the next two following days in advance.

"What have you done to our miss J that she would better pin a needle in her body that stay with you?" the doctor asked, not even trying to suppress chuckles.

"I can't sleep because of him sitting there and staring at me. It gets on my nerves," J grumbled and shot a glare full of irritation to Jack.

"Thanks to this wonder of chemistry, the problem with sleeping is now solved. But if you insist, I can release him for a night, but tomorrow at 9 o'clock be prepared to meet again. The injection," the doctor waved an empty ampule of medicine in front of J's face, "works for a certain period of time, so when you wake up you'll see him again sitting next to you. What's wrong, miss J? Are you feeling sick?"

"Just leave. Both of you" J's steel voice was cracking from irritation, that she didn't try to hide. Why couldn't she just be left alone?!

"Ok, come on, Jackie. Looks like miss J isn't very happy about the decision I made and the less lucky of us may fall as a victim of her devastating anger. Have a good night, miss J", the plump doctor muttered under his breath, pulled Jack out of the spacious room into the brightly lit corridor and hastily shut the door. Nevertheless, Jack still had time to see the grave face of his commander and feel her cursing everything in the world look fixed on him. The news of having a round two in conversations with J didn't drive the black-haired man into ecstasy as well.

Jack dejectedly dragged himself through numerous halls to his small and stuffy room with a small narrow window near the ceiling. Finally, he reached the door with a number 87. What a coincidence, a person-number living in a room-number 87. Jack vainly searched for a key in pockets of his uniform and noisily breathed out, understanding that the key wasn't there. It had probably fallen out of his pocket while he was in J's room and Jack flinched at the thought of returning back. Sleeping on the cold tile flooring didn't make him excited as well, so Jack slammed the right side of his body with all his force into the dark blue door of his room. Slimsy mechanism made a piteous creak before breaking, the door flew open and Jack fell on the floor in his room. Massaging his shoulder, he got to his feet and somehow managed to close the broken door. Damn that key. Tomorrow he'll have to inform the workers that he had broken the door and then search for his key in J's room under accompaniment of harsh remarks of his female commander. The black-haired man quickly changed his clothes and buried himself under a blanket. Opening his eyes, in the darkness he saw an awfully designed washing basin half a meter away from bed and heard the annoying sound of leaking tap. This was getting on his inflamed nerves. If only he could live in such a cosy room as J did! The door of her room wouldn't just break from a minor kick. Jack heavily sighed, turned on the other side and today events crossed his mind. The conversation with J was running in his head for numerous times, and he couldn't get rid of her voice in his ears. "Interesting, what tomorrow brings? It's not that I'm eagerly waiting for the meeting with her, it's just I'm curious on how far this can get. At last I was speaking to someone smart and sane, and if to close eyes on her harsh remarks, the whole communication could be even called pleasant and entertaining... She's actually strange and ill-tempered, but it's not her fault. She had never seen anything good in her life and.. Wait, am I trying to acquit her in my eyes? Ok, let it be so... 8 December... I should remember that date...there's something about her, what drives me crazy...tomorrow 9 o'clock...mistress J..."


End file.
